Starting Anew
by adityag13
Summary: This story picks up from after the chapter The Flaw in the Plan in the Deathly hallows Book.Rated M For Later Chapters. Contains Explicit Situations & Scenes.
1. Return to the tower

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything . It all belongs to JKR.**

* * *

"_I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."_

_  
_Grinning weakly at the gobsmacked expression on Ron's face and understanding on Hermione's , he stuffed the Elder Wand back into his back pocket , put the newly repaired Holly & Phoenix feather wand in his inner pocket & stuffed the cloak inside his jacket as well , and then with one last look around at the circular office , at the portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses , some of who had somehow managed to procure a large stock of firewhiskey , and were gulping down large pints in celebration of the new victory ; Phineas Nigellus Black was heatedly in a discussion with Dilly's Dervent and a long black haired wizard who had his back to them over the contributions of slytherin house in the war; still some others were excitedly taking bets on who would be the next headmaster or headmistress to grace their company with ;still some were empty; Harry guessed they must be downstairs celebrating with other portraits, or observing proceedings in the Great Hall; and last of all those who had fallen asleep , snoozing quietly in their frames ; pausing to take a longer glance at his mentor , the one person who had done everything in his power to make this new dawn possible, not caring about his own life , not about all the taunts , jeers , remarks & doubts that may be raised if he left unanswered questions behind . No, now Harry realized that what the silver haired wizard had done, it couldn't be ever levelled, just like the evil that had left this world couldn't ever be levelled.

He turned towards the door, which now stood open, & beckoned to the other two to follow him. At the sounds of their retreating footsteps, all the portraits stopped whatever they were doing and abruptly stood up to cheer the trio once again . Ron bowed several times in all directions, and only stopped when Hermione gave him a hard pinch on the ear. But that didn't stop him from walking with a haughty stride alongside Harry, smiling broadly.

Just then, a stout little witch with short beady eyes, graying shoulder length hair and a rather plump nose burst into her frame, startling them all.

"He's there Dumbledore, just saw him return, says he'll have them ready in ten minutes."

"Thank you, Martha. Tell him I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Right. And while you're on your way, you might as well make a detour to find Cadogan. He's completely lost it today , running from portrait to portrait with that ridiculous sword of his , challenging whomever he meets on his way to a fight, and refusing to move until either those he's blocked have been stupid enough to fight him , or smart enough to hex him. Has had a truckload of firewhiskey, by the looks of it, and being near him at the moment is as safe as being surrounded by a group of marching trolls. I thought that he'd pulled the last straw when finding no one ready to duel with him, he turned around and challenged his poor pony to a fight. The thing was so startled to have it's master bellowing after him with his sword, it ran trough all the portraits from the 2nd floor until it reached the portrait of Sheira the mermaid on the 5th and plunged right into the lake, sending out screeching merpeople who were celebrating out underneath the water, and only because of their horrible screeching did Cadogan turn back to go looking for other ' Fearless Fighters' as he is calling them. Anyway, while he was away at the lake, I told Simmons you would be coming, and he went off to hold Cadogan off till you arrived." She finished, panting huffily.

"Dear , Dear . Looks like ol' Caddy has got it too bad. Don't worry , I will go soon. Go and have some rest, Martha."

"Right ." and she stalked off, muttering about stupid knights and foolish monks stupid enough to distribute amounts of firewhiskey way much more than what was good for them .

Dumbledore turned to Harry "Well Harry, I'll see you later. Good night, you three." And with that, he waved merrily, surveyed them over the top of his half moon glasses, and walked off.

Now, just thinking about his warm bed up in Gryffindor tower, he slowly trudged his way with the other two out of the circular chamber, and down the revolving staircases, taking care to avoid the few steps that had broken. He vaguely wondered if they could repair the small damage to the staircases. He suddenly stopped , causing the other two to bump into him.

"Oi.What are you thinking about now? Haven't we fried our brains raw throughout the year enough already?" Grumbled Ron ?

Harry , however paid him no attention. Taking out his phoenix feather core wand, he pointed it at a broken step and said firmly:

"_Reparo."_

"What are you doing?" Enquired a slightly irritated & puzzled Ron.

The steps vibrated, but did not repair themselves. His heart sank. He turned to Hermione "Do you mind?"

"What?" She looked just as puzzled as Ron.

"Try to repair the steps. They don't look heavily damaged."

She huffed in exasperation. "How many times do I have to tell you two to read Hogwarts: A history? The entire Castle is magical, and needs some pretty advanced magic to repair any damages. It is beyond the scope of normal magic today to recreate what was created a thousand years ago by the most powerful magicians of all time. "

None of the other two looked convinced , so she pulled out her own wand. The other two looked on, genuinely interested. Pointing her wand at the step, she firmly repeated :

"_Reparo."_

Again the steps vibrated, but other from that showed no further signs of repair.

"See?" Hermione stated as if chiding them for some wrongdoing, but she turned around to see Harry lost completely in his own thoughts.

"Harry?"

But Harry didn't pay any attention. Slowly he reached for the Elder wand in his back pocket, pointed it at the broken step and repeated:

"_Reparo."_

The steps flew together, good as new. Hermione looked highly impressed and embarrassed at the same time, but said nothing, as to not have to admit that first time a book had let her down. Ron however clapped Harry on the back, obviously overjoyed.

"Ha! See mate. You're gonna have to keep that wand for at least a little longer." Slowly Harry took out the other wand, and held them both up together in his hands. Then he turned to the other two, his mind already made up.

"After I help repair the castle, I'll put return the elder wand to its rightful resting place, but we must keep this between us, otherwise news may spread soon among the school like wildfire that the most powerful wand ever is residing within the school. The Hogwarts rumour mill works too quick for my liking. I'll have to do it by night, though that wouldn't be much of a problem; we've had far too much experience of prowling around the castle at night. Although no one would likely object to me providing a hand, awkward questions may come up. C'mon". With that , he turned down the stairs, the other two following in his wake. They reached the opening in the wall, and went past the gargoyle lying lopsidedly onto a side, who stirred feebly.

"Oh. No need to stay good night. I'll just stay here till someone helps me get back into my place." it groaned.

Harry turned, walked straight around to the gargoyle lying lopsided at the entrance to the revolving staircases, and pointing the elder wand at the gargoyle, said _"Reparo"._

The lopsided gargoyle sailed smoothly into place.

"Thanks. It's been long since a student cared about us disdainful guardians of passages, you know. Just shout the password and get going, as if we're nothing but stone statues, that's how we gargoyles have been treated forever, you know. Only Dumbledore took time to acknowledge us and our families."

"You've got families?"

"Just the voice of sarcasm, aren't we? Always the-"

But Harry just pointed the wand threateningly back at the gargoyle, and it shut up immediately.

Harry then made his way back to the other two, took out the invisibility cloak from his jacket and threw it up over their heads.

"There's no need to talk to anyone just now, not until we reach the tower at least." He whispered in answer to the enquiring looks in the other two's faces. Slowly, they trudged their way back to the tower slowly, noticing that the damage to this part of the castle wasn't as extensive as that to the front. A few windows hung off their hinges, a couple of tapestries had been burnt down, a couple more torn, and the floor was strewn with dust. Repairing most of the damage as he went along, purely to give himself something to just do than to think about all of the losses of the battle which weighed heavily upon his heart, Harry soon found himself walking with the other two in the passage leading to the portrait of the fat lady. They reached the portrait, where the lady was snoring loudly with her head lolling down in front of her left shoulder, one hand upon her lap and the other just holding on to a wine bottle. He took the cloak off the three of them, and stuffed it back inside his jacket hastily.

"Holy candles" said Harry, turning back to the portrait.

She shifted in her sleep, but didn't wake.

Harry said the password a little more loudly this time, swaying on his feet as he did so. He really was exhausted and was ready to sleep for a week, his brain felt oddly empty besides all that had transpired since just a few hours ago, and he thought it must be the exhaustion getting to him at last. The lady grumbled inaudibly, but still didn't move. He once more gave the password, raising his tone by two pitches as he did so. The lady still didn't budge, and that got the better of all of them this time.

"HOLY CANDLES!"

All of them shouted this time, thereby startling the lady out of her sleep, who scrambled to her feet, and dropped her wine bottle, just barely managing to keep herself upright by clinging on to the side of her frame with her hands. She looked highly affronted at them.

"Just because you've saved the entire wizarding world doesn't mean that you've earned the right to go prowling around and startle people out of their sleeps. That wine was three hundred twenty five years old, you know."

"Yeah, well forgive us, but unlike you, we haven't had any sleep in hours" Muttered Ron sarcastically under his breath. This however didn't go unnoticed by the lady, and neither by Hermione, who gave him a sharp nudge in the ribs.

"MANNERS! RONALD."

"See, she's still got more humanity left in her thumb than you've got in your oversized brain, Pea Brain. But before I let you in, just where have the three of you been this year?" , The lady asked sarcastically, quirking an eyebrow upwards.

Ron, who was by now highly irritated, screamed out at the top of his voice

"COULD YOU HOLD YOUR HORSES JUST UNTIL TO- .", but he was cut off mid-rant . Hermione had cried out , her own wand directed at Ron's face

"_Silencio."_

Ron had a dangerous expression on his face. Hermione ignored it completely, and turned back to Harry, "Let's just go in. He's too exhausted for his own good, let alone anyone else's."

"Right." Muttered Harry .With a sigh, he turned back to the fat lady. "Sorry about him. Please, can we go in now? I promise, we'll tell you everything later."

Still muttering about selfish school students, she swung forwards to admit them into the tower.

* * *

A few people were sitting inside. Harry recognized Neville, Dean, Seamus, Parvati & Lavender sitting on the couch by the fire. Charlie& Percy were sitting on the other side of the common room with George. He felt his guilt take another upward swing as he noticed that all of them had red, puffy eyes. Oliver Wood, Katie Bell & Angelina Johnson sat on the floor in the middle. Katie had a bandage around her arm, and Wood sat clutching his ankle, which had earlier been mended by Madam Pomfrey. 

Hermione turned back to Ron, who by now had the grace to be looking sheepish at his own impatience for rest, and quickly reversed her spell.

Nodding to her and Harry, Ron made his way over to his brothers, all of whom quickly engulfed him in a tight hug. Hermione joined Angelina on the floor.

Harry made his way over to the couch, where his ex-roommates were sitting .

"Why aren't you all resting? It's been a long night already."

Seamus chose to reply for all of them: "Harry mate! If anyone deserves some rest, it's you. We've all been waiting here, just so we could meet you before going back home; our parents are waiting in the Great Hall. It's nearly six, and our portkeys leave at seven. Go on, get some sleep. I doubt whether any of us wouldn't fall asleep on our doorstep as soon as we enter our homes."

Satisfied with his answer, he asked "Have you guys eaten?"

They all nodded wearily.

"Ok then. Take Care of yourselves. And Thanks for everything. I couldn't have done it without you guys."

"No Problem mate" Replied Dean. "Now go get some sleep."

"Right. See you all later."

They all stood up , and hugged him one by one, then silently made their way towards the portrait hole.

"Neville." Harry called out to the plump round boy, who turned back.

"Yeah Harry?"

"Thanks again mate. Say hello to you gran for me, won't you?"

"Sure , brother. Take care of yourself." He smiled cheerfully at Harry, and then turned back to hug Ron and Hermione, both of who by this time had hugged all the other four. Then the five made their way slowly out of the common room. His two best friends turned back to go where they were earlier. Harry slowly looked around himself, noticing the damage to the room at large. It hadn't suffered a lot of damage, given that it was at the back of the castle and pretty high up; most of the fight had been near the front, and hadn't reached the higher levels of the castle. A curtain had been burnt down, and the window behind it was completely smashed. Otherwise the room was unscathed.

Harry made his way towards Oliver Wood, and sat down between him and the girls.

"Hey!"

"Hi Harry!" His three ex teammates replied back at him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off abruptly.

"Before you ask, our portkeys leave at quarter past seven, and we've all eaten. What we don't understand is why you aren't in bed yet!" Katie chimed in.

"I had a few things to discuss with someone."

"Alright." Replied Angelina, "Well, now that we've seen you, I think it best that we'd better be going down as well. Our relatives are waiting downstairs too."

Harry thought that everyone was leaving early to give him some rest, but didn't mention it. He was thankful that they had stayed up for him, though it was only increasing his guilt that they hadn't had some rest. He nodded wearily to them.

"Right then. See you all later. Take care. Say thanks to your relatives for me."

"Alright Harry" Replied Wood, nodding. With that all of them got up. The four Weasley brothers walked over to the five of them, and after a quick round of hugs, Oliver, Angelina, & Katie walked out of the portrait hole.

Harry turned around to the elder three Weasley brothers .All of them were apparently unhurt, except for a minor cut on Percy's arm and Charlie sporting a slightly swollen lower lip.

"Charlie?" he called to the eldest of the Weasley brothers.

"Yeah, Harry?" Charlie responded normally, although Harry detected the slightest bit of covered grief behind his tones.

His guilt now almost too much to consume him, Harry recovered himself with a deep breath.

"Where are the rest of the family?" Harry enquired, his voice wavering slightly despite his best efforts.

"They're all right upstairs. Mum and Dad retired with Ginny, Bill and Fleur left earlier."

"Ok. Have they all eaten?"

"Everybody except mum. She's still in a very bad state, but all the others have had some."

He nearly choked while trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. The one person who had been like a mother to him as long as he had known her, had always had given him food before eating herself whenever he'd been living at Ron's place, had treated him equally to any of her other sons, held him when he'd cried , was now sitting upstairs hungry, because he had brought immeasurable grief upon her. He didn't trust himself to speak, so he looked to Hermione for help, who understood and nodded kindly before turning back to Charlie.

"And you three, have you had any food yet?" she asked Charlie.

"We did, but dad told us to wait for you lot. Ginny wanted to stay too, and stubbornly refused to go up until she'd met you lot, especially you Harry,", Harry looked up, surprised, but didn't still trust his voice so he chose to remain quiet. "I promised her that I'd send Harry up when he arrived. She agreed after arguing heavily, and dad took them all upstairs."

"Where are they?" Ron asked. Harry noticed that he'd been oddly quiet all of this time, as had been Percy and George.

"Mum, dad & Ginny are all in the fourth year dorms, Bill and Fleur are in the second years."

Harry, who'd found his voice at last, called out sharply "Kreacher."

The house elf apparated with a loud _crack _& everyone looked up at Harry ,surprised. The elf bowed deeply to Harry before turning to bow to the others as well. Then it turned back to Harry and looked up expectantly. Harry noticed that he too was wearing the same clothes as the Hogwarts house elves used to wear, Regulus Black's old locket still on his neck.

"Yes Master Harry?"

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked the elf.

"Yes kind miss." Kreacher replied, before turning back to Harry.

"Master called Kreacher. What does master wish for Kreacher to do?"

"I'd like you to bring me some toast, a few sausages, some steaks and a flagon of pumpkin juice, with three glasses, with two trays."

"Yes master." He disappeared with a pop.

"It's no use Harry. We've all tried, but she's too shaken to speak, let alone eat."

"That doesn't mean I'm no going to try" replied Harry, as the house elf reappeared with the food, and set it on the table in front of Harry.

"Thanks Kreacher. I'll see you soon." Said Harry .Then he continued "By the way Kreacher, have you eaten?"

"Yes master Harry. Kreacher had eaten as soon as the fight was finished and was helping with the other house elves in restoring the entrance hall, when Master Harry called Kreacher." croaked the tiny elf.

Harry and Ron turned to Hermione, with identical quizzical expressions on their faces. She replied "House Elves' magic is very powerful, Harry, much more so than any ordinary Wizard's magic. I've already explained this to you before, when you asked me how they were able to apparate and disapparate from directly inside Hogwarts' grounds."

Satisfied, Harry turned back to Kreacher.

"Ok Kreacher. You can go now. I'll call you when we need something."

"Ok master." bowing to all of them once again, the elf disapparated with a _pop_.

Harry turned back to the food on the table, piled three toasts, a couple each of sausages and steaks on the spare tray, and then filled a glass with pumpkin juice, keeping it on the same tray he had just filled, and then lifted the tray. Turning back to Ron and Hermione, he nodded towards the other tray and said "you both didn't eat much earlier, so eat now, and then go straight to bed. I'll be along later after I've seen your mum, Ron."

"Whatever do you mean Harry?"Asked Hermione.

"Yeah! We're coming with you. At least we've eaten something, you haven't touched a morsel. You need to eat too." Said Ron.

"No. I need to do this on my own." He replied, swallowing heavily, unable to meet either of their gazes and pretending to focus on balancing the tray, so the glass wouldn't topple over. However, no sooner had he looked down than he found a hand under his chin, and his gaze was forced upwards, and he found himself looking into the brilliantly blue eyes of George Weasely, who had the same hard blazing expression on his face which he'd only seen earlier on Ginny's face. He tried to turn away, but George forced him to look straight into his eyes.

"Don't you dare blame yourself Harry Potter, don't you dare. None of us blames you for what happened. It's not your fault, none of it is, and YOU KNOW IT. You are no less a brother to us than either of us are to you and to each other among ourselves. We fought for you, because you ARE family, and you did the same for us, hell you weren't even afraid to die for us. Fred may be dead, and we'll miss him equally, but I can guarantee you that wherever he is, he'll be happy because all of us are safe, and that is because of YOU & YOU ALONE. "

"But It was MY fight. I should've ne-"

But whatever he wanted to say, he never got to finish. The tray was taken from his hands, and he found himself being crushed in a tight hug, surrounded on all sides by all of the Weasley brothers present. Hermione was holding the tray, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Charlie called her over, and soon Harry found her besides himself as well. He had let go of his emotions, and was crying openly into Charlie's shirt, who patted him gently on the back.

After a few minutes, or what could have been half an hour, the group broke apart. Wiping his cheeks, Harry nodded to the elder three Weasley's.

"Thanks. That helped a lot."

George smiled & picked up the tray he'd prepared for Mrs. Weasley and handed it to him.

"Go On. Ginny's waiting for you", said Charlie, gently pushing Harry towards the staircase.

"Right. You all go get some sleep. When I come back here, I don't want to see any of you three still awake."

"What do you mean when you come back here?"

"Oh .Nothing much. I'm just not sleepy anymore. Tired as hell, yeah," he said hurriedly, noting the frown forming on Charlie's face, "but not sleepy. So I'll just lay down here on the couch, where I've spent many restless nights earlier", he answered in reply to the questioning gaze on their faces.

"Ok. But do try to get some sleep. We're all returning to the burrow after lunch."

"Ok. You coming Ron, Hermione?"

"Yeah, C'mon, let's go." replied Ron.

They all made their way up the stairs. Percy, George & Charlie all turned to the door on the first landing, which was the entrance to the first years' dorms. They each bade the other trio goodbye, and then proceeded to turn in.

The trio proceeded upwards, and Harry stopped at the entrance to the second years' dorms. He could hear snoring from the inside, which meant that Bill was asleep & probably so, was Fleur. Looking around to see that the other two were following , he trudged his way upto the fourth years' dorms , and as he reached the landing at the entrance to the dormitory, his guilt returned full force .

How was he to face either Mr. or Mrs. Weasely, when they had done everything they could've done for him since knowing him, and he in turn had only brought immeasurable grief upon them? How was he even to ask Mrs. Weasely to eat, when it was because of him that she had not eaten? How would he face Mr. Weasely, who'd been there for him before he'd known either Sirius or Remus? The thought of Remus brought another pang of guilt to his stomach. And how, how was he to face Ginny, when she'd helped him through a lot of his suffering because of Sirius, and he'd been the cause that one out of her two favorite brothers had been taken away from her. If the looks on the faces of the other three Weasley brothers when he'd first seen them were anything to go by, he couldn't even imagine the looks on the rest of the Weasleys who were waiting inside for him.

He felt a hand upon his shoulder, and turned to see Ron standing there, with a look of understanding on his face. Ron nodded towards the door, telling him without words to go on. Harry gulped, and nodded back. Slowly, he turned towards the door, and freeing one of his hands from the tray, knocked once twice on it.

There was a sharp click on the door as it was magically unlocked from the inside, and Mr. Weasely's voice called out

"Come In."

Harry felt numb & cold. This family, that had looked after him, cared for him, supported him even, had paid a terrible price. They had lost a son and it was all his fault.

With a heavy feeling of dread in his heart & a heavy dead weight pressing down on his stomach, Harry slowly reached for the handle and pushed open the door.

* * *


	2. Comforting Molly

When Harry stepped inside the door, he saw that the bed in front of the door & the one to it's right had been put together side by side , so as to make a double bed . Mr. Weasley lay back against the headboard on the left hand side of the bed, his eyes still puffy & red. Mrs. Weasley was sitting in the middle with her head turned back onto her husband's shoulder, still sobbing quietly, & Ginny was on her right. She too was leaning against the headboard, her head towards the ceiling & eyes shut tightly. All the other beds were empty.

He took a moment to inhale the sweet floral scent of Ginny, which wafted clearly to him from even across the room, and calmed his frazzled nerves somewhat. All three of them looked up at the trio entering the room. Ginny slowly got up from the bed, & made her way over to where the trio were standing side by side. She first hugged her brother, and then Hermione, & then, as if in a trance, she turned to Harry.

He noticed that her eyes were slightly less red rimmed than the others. A single tear slid down her right cheek as she slowly looked up at him, and he could not hold one of his own rolling down his own cheek. She looked so small and tiny in front of him, & even in her current state, Harry couldn't fathom how beautiful she looked to him. He inwardly cursed himself for the hundredth time, for HE was the reason his little angel stood there in front of him, looking weak & frail.

Slowly, he reached out to cup her cheek with his right hand, and she closed her eyes shut tight, leaning into his touch. He clumsily wiped the tear off her cheek. She opened her eyes to look up at him, still leaning into his hand. He handed the tray to Hermione, and then pulled Ginny in towards himself, and hugged her so tight as if his life depended on it.

God, it had been too long since he'd held her so close, too long since he'd taken comfort in her arms. Even though it had just been nearly a year since they had had to separate, to Harry it seemed like a lifetime as he held her to him, her small body melding into him perfectly. He closed his eyes & rested his chin atop her head. He could tell just by the feel of the tightness by which she held him, that she needed his comfort as much as he needed hers. She sniffed slowly into his chest, and he rubbed her back soothingly with one hand, the other gently holding her face to him as he ran it through her hair behind her head. It felt as soft as it had always felt to him, and he took a moment to revel in its feel, slowly inhaling its intoxicating scent, which was as sweet & seductive to him as it had always been.

Unknown to either of them, Arthur Weasley smiled inwardly to himself watching the silent exchange taking place before him. All of his children had been through so much at such young ages, & it was nothing short of a miracle that so many of them had survived the war, though the thought of Fred caused a tear to roll down his cheek, onto his wife's head, who slowly looked up at him with silent enquiry in her red rimmed eyes. He nodded towards Harry & Ginny with his chin, and she turned in her arms to see her youngest child & only daughter being comforted in her adopted son's arms. Her heart melted as she recognized the intensity of love in Harry's eyes, sniffing once more, and shifted around slowly, trying to hold back her tears at the sight of the tray of food in Hermione's eyes.

At the sound of her sniff, Harry looked up towards her to see both of the Weasley parents smiling softly at him. Slowly he broke apart from Ginny ,place his left arm around Ginny on her shoulders ( the gesture wasn't missed by either of the Weasley parents, who smiled a little broadly), took the tray from Hermione in his right arm, and slowly made his way with Ginny over to the joined beds.

Harry reached the side of the bed Ginny was on earlier & put the tray on the bedside table, his other arm still around Ginny. Slowly he turned and sat her down on the bed ('Such a perfect gentleman', Mr. Weasley thought inwardly to himself). Then he picked up the tray of food & looked up into Mr. Weasley's eyes, silently asking for permission. The elder wizard smiled gratefully at him, nodding silently for him to go on. He knew that if anyone could convince his wife to eat, it was this man in front of him, whom he'd silently watch grow up ever since he'd met him first. Ron made his way over to the other side of the bed to join his father. Hermione sat down besides Ginny & put her arm around the younger witch's shoulder. With a heavy heart, Harry finally looked towards

"Mrs. Weasley?"

"Oh Harry." She cried and pulled him into another bone crushing hug, sobbing openly on his jacket & holding onto him as if never wanting to let him go. Harry slowly looked up at Mr. Weasley, who nodded for him to continue.

"Shhh, Mrs. Weasley. I know what you're going through, I really do. But does it make any sense to make it worse for yourself by falling sick? Believe me, I felt the same way after Sirius, and you all helped me through it. Never did you allow me to feel unloved, never did you allow me to feel alone, never did you eat before I'd eaten, nor sleep before I'd slept. You loved me as much as you loved any of your other children, perhaps even more so , seeing as that you never gave me any punishments, even though I'd been equal party in whatever they'd been upto."

"I know that nothing I say will reduce your grief, indeed I do not have words to say. I only know this that everyone who died today, Fred, Lupin, Tonks, & all those who gave their lives, did so that we could live at peace. I know that Fred died knowing that we'd all be safe, indeed he gave his life for all of us laughingly, & right now , wherever he is, he'd be extremely miserable if he would be seeing you like this. Fred always believed in making others laugh, he would want us to live happily, & would be highly disappointed if we continue to grieve like this for him, because he would always be very sad if anyone he knew was unhappy."

"I know Harry. It's just so hard. He was so young, had his whole life ahead of him. I didn't even tell him to stay safe. Last thing I said to him was a scolding for bringing Ginny to fight. How can I – OH", she exclaimed loudly and burst into another large round of sobs, falling onto him and holding him tightly.

Harry's jacket was now heavily wet and he felt his own tears start to roll down his cheeks. The loss of Fred was an unfathomable shock to him, just as the loss of Sirius had been; he couldn't even imagine what this poor mother was going through. He imagined what it must be like to lose one of his children had he been a father, and then it hit him; his heart stopped just at starting to think about the thought. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, not trusting himself to speak, just holding her, knowing that she needed him.

Slowly, her sobs subsided. She slowly looked up at him, and he raised his hands to wipe her tears. She took a few deep breaths, while he slowly rubbed her back soothingly. Then she spoke

"When Hagrid brought your body out of the forest, I was more terrified than I'd ever been in my life, and I could feel my heart break all over once again. After Fred, I just couldn't bear it." She looked at him sharply now.

"Why did you do it, Harry? Why did you go to him?"

Harry gulped, not knowing what to say. He recognized the indirect accusation behind the questions. He looked at Hermione, who looked back helplessly at him, & then to Ron, who was also at a loss for answers to help him out.

"I think we'd all like to know that", spoke Ginny, coming to his defence, "But right now, he needs to rest, mum."

Harry looked gratefully at Ginny, and smiled. She nodded back, smiling softly at him, and his breath once again caught in his throat at how beautiful she was. This was another thing he loved about her, that she understood his emotions perfectly without him having to speak a single word.

"I promise Mrs. Weasely, I'll explain everything later" he told Molly.

"Ok!" She still didn't sound satisfied, but nodded her understanding all the same.

"Now, have you eaten yet?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "I brought this for you.", he replied, pointing to the tray.

"Oh. You're such a sweet darling. Thank you. Here, eat this". She picked up a toast & lifted it to his mouth. He accepted it, and picked up a sandwich himself & lifted it to her mouth. She accepted it reluctantly, but gratefully at the same time.

Slowly, they ate in silence. Arthur Weasley watched the man in front of him, and vaguely remembered when he'd seen this man as a nervous boy sitting on a chair at the burrow nearly six years ago. He slowly reached out a hand upto Harry's head and ruffled his hair affectionately. Harry looked up at him, with Mrs. Weasley's head still resting on his shoulder, one hand still holding the glass of pumpkin juice from which she was slowly sipping. Arthur silently mouthed the word "Thanks" to him, who closed his eyes once & opened them to indicate his acceptance. Slowly Molly Weasley finished the glass, & kept it on the tray. Then she kissed Harry's forehead.

"Thank You Harry."

"It's the least I could do, considering everything you've done for me. I can't even begin to imagine what I'd have been like had you not taken me in as your own son, Mrs. Weasley."

"Don't be foolish, Harry." Said Arthur "You are our son, & you have proved it time and over again yourself. Though you aren't an official Weasley yet, you'll always be one in our hearts."

Harry gulped, and solemnly nodded.

"Alright, enough talking. Now as Ginny said dear, you need some rest. You can sleep here if you want to. These three," she indicated to Ron, Hermione & Ginny, "need to rest as well."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."

With that, he picked up the tray, kissed Molly on the cheek, gave Arthur a hug, & turned towards the door.

"C'mon Ron, 'Mione." Then he turned to Ginny, "You wanna come with us, or stay here?"

"No. I think I'll come. I'm not sleepy at all.", she replied, frowning at her mother who looked up sharply at her last statement.

"Alright." Then he turned round to face the bed. "I'll see you later, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley."

"Ok Harry dear. Make sure that you get some sleep before lunch. Make sure that THESE three get some as well."

"Don't worry. I will."

Mrs. Weasley was already settling down to sleep. The four nodded to the head of the Weasley household, and slowly exited the dorm, closing the door behind them as they did so. Mr. Weasley flicked his wand at the door, which locked it.

"Such a wonderful boy." Said Molly to her Husband, as they lay back down on the bed.

"I know dear" replied Arthur, smiling knowingly, "I know."

"Do you think they'll sleep now?"

"Well, you know our Ron. He'll probably fall asleep on the stairs. Hermione will surely get to a bed, or if she doesn't have the energy, she'll conjure one out of thin air. She's a good catch, that one. Only if our Ron wasn't so thick."

"Don't say that about your son. Besides, he's much less thicker than YOU are, my dear muggle fanatic husband." She admonished. "Besides, we didn't have to go through nearly one percent as they've had to, especially poor Harry." She finished sadly.

"Do you think he'll be able to sleep?"

"Not before our dear Ginny snogs his brains out." She replied, grinning.

"Do you think he'll get back with her?"

"Of course. Couldn't you see the love in him as he was holding her? I could feel it from here. And besides, I don't think that Ginny will let him off the hook at all. We Weasley women have got a habit of getting what we want; you should know that well enough."

"Alright dear. You looked tired. C'mon, let's get some sleep." With that, he kissed her tenderly, and then they fell asleep holding each other.

* * *

The four teenagers stepped outside, and Ginny shut the door behind them, and they heard a sharp _click _as it locked from the inside. 

"Right Harry. I'm going up to sleep in our old sixth year dorm. You coming, Mione?" enquired Ron.

"And why exactly, Ronald Weasley, do you think that I'd sleep with you?" , asked Hermione, quirking an eyebrow upwards.

Ron, who now only realized the full meaning behind his statement, turned red at the ears before mumbling out

"It's j-just that th-those two a-aren't sleepy, so I thought --" he trailed off, suddenly interested in picking a spot in his jeans as his face went completely red as his hair. Harry had to bite back his laughter, while Ginny snickered openly behind her hand.

"The battle is over & we haven't even rested; & already you want to get me into bed with you?" asked Hermione, amused at the expression on Ron's face. God, this guy was SO THICK.

Ron, who was now redder than a tomato, grumbled something like "different beds" & "not be alone", before turning and storming up the stairs. As sure as they were sure he was out of earshot, the three burst out laughing. Harry was careful enough to set the tray down, before he collapsed onto the floor, positively howling with laughter. It'd been too long since he'd openly laughed like that, he remembered.

"If only he'd grow up!" said Hermione breathlessly.

"Ha. This is Ron you're talking about", Ginny burst out, still holding onto her stomach. "His body took up his brain's share of growing up a long time ago."

Harry, who by now had gained some semblance of control over his laughter, decide to intervene before his friends honor was totally blown up in front of his eyes by the two girls.

"Alright. The guy's tired, he can't think straight, let alone do what you were hinting at ,'Mione. God, give him a break, you two."

Both girls turned to face him, with identical quizzical expressions and wide grins plastered upon their faces.

"Since when did you get so good at mind reading, Harry?" Ginny asked, with an evil grin worthy of rivaling that of the twins.

"Yeah! Wasn't it you who called him a git in fourth year, & then again in sixth year?" asked Hermione , with an equally bemused expression on her face.

He couldn't think of anything to say, and both girls erupted into another violent fit of giggles. Annoyed, he turned to look out of the window. The grounds and the lake were clearly visible from here, even though Gryffindor tower was at the back of the castle. The sun was high & bright in the sky. Several people were out on the grounds, either sitting, lying down lazily, or just strolling around. He could see Hagrid's hut, where fang was lying lazily besides Hagrid, and Madame Maxime was entertaining him and Grawp. Several house elves were running around, popping in and out, bringing food to various people, while others were scurrying around collecting empty trays. The giant squid was basking in the sunlight in the middle of the lake, & what looked like several merpeople celebrating were just visible below the water's surface at the near edge of the lake. Harry could see several owls flying around, some making their way to the owlery, some to the castle, & some to those on the grounds.

When the girls' giggling had somewhat subsided somewhat, he turned around to face them.

"Will that be all, or are you two still finding excuses to humiliate us?", he asked sarcastically.

"No. you go on, Go down." Said Hermione. "I'll go up to Ron. Guess he wasn't thinking clearly after all. But," she continued with a wide smile, "You've to admit, the fat lady most certainly found a fitting name for him."

"What?" asked Ginny curiously.

"_Pea – Brain."_

Both girls burst into giggles yet again. Harry, clearly annoyed now, bellowed out:

"Alright. Cut it out."

"Fine. Fine." Panted Hermione. "See you both later."

"Yeah Yeah! Whatever." Harry replied dully, and turned to go back down the stairs.

The girls hugged quickly, & then Hermione turned and began to climb towards the sixth years' dorm. Ginny joined Harry by his side and took hold of his arm.

"C'mon. Let's go.".

And together, they slowly began descending the steps.


	3. In front of the fire

An awkward silence fell between the two of them, as they slowly descended down the steps, neither knowing what to speak , and each waiting for the other to go first. As they slowly descended down the stairs towards the common room, Harry realized that this was the first time he'd been alone with Ginny since that day in her room months ago. Finally Ginny broke the silence

"Thanks!" she said slowly.

"Huh?" Harry asked, "For what?"

"For helping mum."

"It's alright." He replied, a little too quietly. Ginny looked up at him, but he did not meet her gaze. She decided to let it go for the time being.

They reached the third floor landing, and the silence was pressing heavily upon Harry's heart. He couldn't take it any longer, and decided to break the silence.

"How are you feeling?"

Ginny smiled sadly to herself. They all had been through so much today, but no had been through more than him, and yet he was concerned about her.

"Ok, I guess. What about you?"

He took a moment to think, and then sighed heavily. It would be no good lying to her, she always saw right though him. Slowly he answered:

"To be honest, Gin, I myself don't know what I am feeling, what I _should _be feeling. I feel relieved, sad, angry & most of all, GUILTY," He emphasized the last word, continuing "if you get my drift."

She squeezed his arm slowly. "I know. I felt the same way after the chamber."

Harry realized the meaning behind her words, and couldn't think of anything to say. Perhaps she truly could realize how he was feeling, because like him, she herself had been possessed by Riddle, though in her case, he'd been aware of it; she herself had been nearly killed by him, just like he himself had been, after he'd made her nearly kill some of her fellow students. However, the situation had been different then; for while in her case, all the students had only been petrified & had regained their health perfectly. However, his case was something entirely different. Those who'd given their lives in the battle for HIM today, were dead; not 'petrified', he thought bitterly; DEAD. Completely, irrevocably, and irreversibly DEAD. And try as he may, the guilt refused to leave him even for a fraction of a second; he could feel his thoughts rapidly whirling out of his control. His body stiffened, and his breath hitched momentarily before he hastily recomposed himself; it wouldn't do for Ginny to see him weak now, as he realized that he needed to be there for her.

However, unknown to him, his momentary disturbance did not go unnoticed by Ginny, who looked up at him. Although he was not showing any signs of weakness, it did not fool Ginny. She looked up into his emerald green eyes, which had always mesmerized her since she'd seen them for the first time nearly seven years ago on a railway platform. She'd learned long ago that his eyes reflected his true emotions in any situation; and although he didn't know it, she could read him like an open book. She could clearly see a painful internal struggle going on between his mind & his conscience. Indeed, it was just so typical of him to blame himself for everything, no matter whom the fault lay with. She placed her arm around his waist, showing him her support without words. He squeezed her hand in which she held his own, acknowledging his thanks with a nod of his head while he turned briefly to look at her, and then turned back to face ahead of him. She was pleased to feel however that his body had become visibly more relaxed.

Slowly, they reached the common room, where Harry set the tray on the table. Then they slowly made their way over to the couch in front of the fire, and sat down. Ginny pulled Harry closer to her, and he reached around her to place an arm on her other shoulder. She settled her head down on his shoulder. Neither of them said anything for quite a long time, and just sat there gazing into the flames in companionable silence, taking comfort in each other's company.

Finally, Ginny broke the silence.

"What are you thinking about?"

He was startled out of his reverie. His breath hitched in his throat , and this time he could do nothing to control it. He answered, his voice shaking

" I don't know how I could do this to you all, Gin. I don't know how I DID this to you all. I just can't forgive myself. Every time I try to get rid of my guilt, the faces of those who've gone forever keep coming back in my mind. How will I, how can I live with myself, knowing that so many people gave their lives so I could live, knowing that it'd been really only MY fight? How will I face their families? If only I'd gone to him earlier before the fight had started, no one would have died. Talking to your mum, it was harder than anything I've ever done in my life. How can I forgive myself for doing this to her, when she's always considered me as one of you lot? How could I've done this to your father, when he took me in as one of his own? How could I've done this to your brothers, when they've all given me more love than I can fathom. And how, HOW could I've done this to YOU, after everything you did for me after Sirius died?"

He was sobbing openly now, his body shaking uncontrollably. "If only I'd been more quick, Fred would not have…" ; he couldn't bring himself to speak the word, & squeezed her hand tightly.

Ginny knew only too well the feeling of guilt pressing down upon him. She'd faced the same situation after the chamber. She'd been horrified terribly when she found out that the students had nearly been killed by the basilisk, and had been devoutly thankful that they'd only been petrified. At that time, she could not help but contemplate the dreadful alternative, and even though her family had been immensely supportive & understanding during her recovery, the nightmares still haunted her sometimes. However she knew that his guilt, though somewhat similar to her own, would be immensely heavier; because unlike those who'd been petrified, all those people who had died could not be brought back to life. She felt his hand squeeze her own for support, and squeezed back for him to go on. She knew that he needed to get it off his heart, while rubbing his back soothingly.

"It's OK, Harry. I don't blame you; I could never blame you. No one does. If you had not done what you had to do, then several more people, including all of my family would've been dead. See all those people out there on the lawns?" She pointed out of the window. "They're all alive because of you, and those who sacrificed themselves today would be very happy that they did so to give us all a better, peaceful and loving world to live in."

"I know. But how will I explain that to Teddy when he grows up and asks me about his parents. How will I tell him that the last thing I'd called his father was 'a coward', when he put his own life at risk for me, fully aware that he had his own son to live for? How will I tell him that his cheerful, clumsy mother, who was so full of life, is lying in a grave, dead, because of me? How? HOW Gin, How?" and she felt his breath hitch violently before the dam broke & he burst into wracking sobs.

Ginny pulled his head down to her stomach, holding him to her while he cried openly. His whole body was shaking so violently that she could feel herself shaking with him. She thought about Remus; kind, gentle & sweet Remus, How he'd helped her out immensely in her second year after hearing about her disastrous first year. She thought about Tonks; clumsy, fun-loving, adventurous Tonks, and all the things she'd told Ginny, like contraceptive charms,Which her mother would've been horrified beyond measure had she discovered that her daughter knew about.

Her heart wrenched seeing Harry like this. But she knew that it was the only release for his guilt, bottling it up would only make him worse. She stroked one hand on his head gently, running it through his messy hair; and ran the other up and down his back soothingly.

"It's OK Harry. Teddy will never blame you for anything. He will be proud that his mother & father gave sacrificed themselves to protect him, to give him a better world to live in. All parents do that, just as your mum & dad did for you. Love is a very powerful thing Harry; it transgresses far across and beyond all other emotions. If anything, Teddy will be immensely proud of you & everyone else who gave their lives today without any fear. He'll love you more than anything, don't you doubt that one bit; because YOU were the one who made Remus realize his mistake and made him return to his wife and son. As for Fred" she could feel her own breath catch in her throat, and a tear prickled at the corner of her eye, but she forced herself to be strong for Harry's sake, and went on, "He'd have been ashamed if he'd not done his bit. Indeed the twins often told me that you were their favourite, most trustworthy and reliable friend and brother. Fred did not die…"she held back the tears that were paining her eyes violently, and continued after a deep breath "…so that we'd all sit & cry over him, as you pointed out yourself to mum. He gave his life to give us all a reason to live. Besides that, like all the things that they'd always done together, he couldn't leave ' ol' lugless ' to fight alone now, could he? He fought not because you made him, but he couldn't have lived with himself if he didn't. He fought for all of us, for mum, for dad, for me & for all of his brothers, which includes YOU. Would you not have done the same for him?"

He nodded slowly into her stomach, now sobbing somewhat softly. Ginny did not say anything, but continued to rub his head and back.

Slowly, his sobs subsided. He gently lifted his face from her stomach, & sniffed loudly. She pulled her wand out, conjured a handkerchief out of thin air, and handed it to him. He blew his nose into it softly, and then wiped his eyes on his sleeves.

She smiled softly as he took her hand and squeezed it in thanks. She gently pulled her hand out of his own. Slowly, she reached her hands upto his cheeks and cupped his face in them; and pulled it towards her own, stopping just when it was a couple of inches from her own.

She looked up into his emerald green eyes, which were looking confusedly back at her own brown ones, and chuckled quietly to herself. She wiped away the two tears that had leaked out with her thumbs, and then spoke very slowly and quietly…

"Harry, you're my rescuer, my life, my soul, my EVERYTHING; and I'm never going to let you forget that."

With that she closed the gap between the two of them and kissed him tenderly, lingeringly on the lips. He tensed for a moment, before relaxing and let her take control of his lips, allowing himself to be drawn in by her.

After about a minute, they broke apart. Ginny leaned back against the couch, and Harry lay back, placing his head on her lap.

"What was that for?" he asked her, smiling for the first time since he could remember in a long time.

Ginny did not say anything at first, but allowed herself to be mesmerized by his smile, which had always addicted her and caused her to feel giddy. She looked into his eyes, and could see that now he was far more relaxed. She could feel herself drowning in those endless green orbs, which gazed intensely back at her. Slowly, a smile spread across her face, widening into a grin, which he returned.

"For saving my family" , and with that, she leaned her head down closer to his , "and this" , she was not even an inch from him now, "is for saving me".

With that, their lips connected once again. Harry didn't know what to say, so he simply kissed her back as hard as he could. He ravaged her mouth thoroughly, trying to put everything he'd felt for her since his last birthday into the kiss, trying to show her how much he'd missed her everyday since the trio had gone off on their mission. By the ferocity with which she returned the kiss, he knew that she'd missed him just as badly as he'd missed her. She proceeded to reach every part of his mouth she could possibly with her tongue, eventually turning the kiss into a full fledged tongue lashing affair. She wrapped her arms tighter around him, one hand ruffling his hair affectionately, while holding his face tightly against her own from behind his head with the other. After what seemed like a lifetime, they broke apart, gasping & panting heavily for breath.

"I'm never going to let you leave me ever again, Potter." She said, breathing out heavily.

He didn't say anything at first, simply sat up and propped himself back on the couch. He allowed her to catch her breath, and when he was sure that both of their breathing had returned to normal, he pulled her onto his lap, lifting her feet onto the couch, so that she was seated sideways across him, angling a little into him. He reached one hand behind her head to run it through her fiery tresses, while the other moved to the small of her back. Even though she was sitting on top of his lap, her face only just came up to his. He pulled her face close to his with the hand that was still running through her silken hair, stopping it so near to his so that he could barely murmur against her lips; "I swear. I'll never leave you alone, ever again.", and crushed his mouth to hers once more.

He kissed her fiercely on the lips. After about a minute, he let go of her lips. Then he reached up and slowly,lovingly, passionately kissed her forehead. Then her eyes. Then her cheeks. Then her nose, before conquering her lips once again. After plundering her mouth thoroughly, he moved downwards to her neck, trailing kisses along her jaw line on the way.

She threw her head back to give him better access, while running her hands wildly through his hair. He moved along her neck to her ear, hungrily kissing and licking every millimeter of soft, creamy skin he could reach. She moaned passionately, urging him on. As he reached a particular spot on her neck directly below her left ear , she moaned ecstatically. He made a mental note of this to himself, memorizing that particular parts exact location. Then he immediately turned her head to the other side, and attacked the same spot under her other ear straightaway. She gasped loudly, and clenched her fists tightly in his hair. He continued sucking and licking on the same spot, causing her to moan wildly with pleasure.

By now, Ginny was completely turned on & dripping wet with desire. She moved her hands to his belt and pulled out the hem of his shirt from inside of his jeans. She slipped both of her hands inside his shirt & felt him shudder as they made contact with his bare skin. She slowly slid them up his torso, starting from his navel, along his stomach, before finally reaching his chest and moved them around passionately, feeling every well toned muscle that there was. He replied his own eagerness by conquering her lips once more and she could feel that he was enjoying what she was doing by the ferocity behind the kiss and the way in which he was running his tongue inside her mouth. She took one hand out from underneath his shirt, and reached behind herself to grip his hand which was exploring her back over feverishly over her shirt.

Slowly she brought it from behind her to her front in between them, and placed it on her right breast. Harry gasped, and pulled it away immediately, breaking the kiss reluctantly.

"What?" she enquired , panting heavily. Harry had the urge to resist grinning. Her hair was badly tousled and splayed all around her. Her lips were red & swollen , due to the ferocity & hunger behind the kisses. He didn't consider himself capable of doing that to any girl, let alone a girl like Ginny. He took a moment to register how beautiful she looked, even like this, & inwardly cursed himself for what was about the millionth time for not having noticed her earlier.

Slowly, he pulled her closer, panting a little himself, and rested his forehead on hers. Gazing intently into her beautiful little brown eyes, he replied:

"We're going too fast, Gin. We need to slow down. Besides, we're not in a very private place; anyone could come up in here. Or even worse, any of your brothers could come down, and I don't particularly fancy being squashed to a pulp by them."

She replied ferociously: "I don't give a damn about who comes up or down in here. As for my brothers, they know better than to get on my wring side. Besides, I've been waiting all my life for this moment. Not only that Potter , you owe me big time for all the time we've lost since last ear and for all the time it took you to notice me ."

And with that, she threw herself onto him heavily, nearly toppling him over the couch in the process. She didn't allow him a chance to speak anything more, just captured his lips in a wild kiss, showing absolutely no mercy to any part of his mouth. While ravaging his mouth wildly, she moved herself so that she was straddling him now. She crushed her own body to his, thereby pinning his body between herself and the couch, feeling every bit of his body that was pressing back against her own. She ground her pelvis against his groin, causing him to feel her wetness, which by now had seeped through her jeans.

Harry groaned loudly, & she chuckled inwardly to herself. He knew that she was treading on dangerous waters, as yet unexplored by any of them, and kissed her back ferociously. He was aware of every bit of her body that was pressed hard against his own, and began to get excited himself. He cursed himself inwardly, fully aware of her wetness and what it was doing to a certain part of his body. He knew that if she continued her grinding any longer, he would not be able to stop himself.

Using all the self control he possessed, he broke the kiss and slowly pushed her away from his body, but held on to her at a comfortable distance. He could see that she was annoyed by this, and was violently trying to get back to him. Holding her firmly, he looked up into her small brown eyes. He could see her gaze smoldering with desire for him.

Slowly , he shook his head and said " Gin, please. We have to stop. We can't do this, at least not here whilst anyone can walk in on us."

She did not look happy, but nodded reluctantly nonetheless. Slowly she leaned in & whispered seductively in his ear "You get away this time Potter. But you're luck won't last long. Just wait till everyone falls asleep tonight." Her warm breath on his neck sent shivers down his spine.

With that, she slid off his lap, smirking at the incredulous expression on Harry's face.

"Merlin Gin! Surely you don't mean that. I mean, we've just gotten back together. Surely you can wait a bit longer. We've got to take things slow. Don't get me wrong, I want this as much as you do, honestly I do." He said quickly, noticing the slight disappointment and hurt that was forming on her face. "But first, we've to reorganize our lives. Surely you understand that?"

"Yeah, I guess so." She said sadly. "But," she piped up almost immidiately, a sly grin forming upon her face; "that doesn't mean we can't..."she reached out a hand and slowly trailed it along the fly of his jeans, applying a slight pressure, at which he groaned loudly, and she leaned in towards him again to whisper in his ear, "...indulge ourselves." She finished, and pulled her hand back, smirking openly.

She continued "And besides, I always get what I want, and you know it". She finished, looking absolutely gleeful & highly satisfied with herself.

He stared at her in amazement, before a small grin spread on his face. " Too right you are. We can surely indulge ourselves." He replied back, pulling her closer to him and tucking her head below his chin, running a hand through her hair, which, although badly tousled and messed up, still slid between his fingers as smoothly as always. " But for now, let's get some sleep, before it's time for lunch".

With that, they both lay back on the couch, Harry towards the edge of the seat & Ginny between him and the backrest of the couch; both lying on their sides, facing each other. Harry slid an arm underneath her head & instinctively, Ginny tucked her head under his chin. He pulled out the elder wand from his back pocket, and conjured a blanket worthlessly. He tucked the wand back in his back pocket, then pulled the blanket over the both of them. Ginny snuggled further into him still, drawing up her knees till they were level with his waist, and slid an arm around his neck. He secured her position by sliding his free arm around her and holding her to him, and then fell back into the most blissful sleep he'd had in a long time. But before sleep overcame him, he could have sworn that he heard the love of his life, now safely ensconced in his arms, produce a victorious chuckle into his chest.

* * *

**_A/N : _**

Sorry it's been so long. Actually I've been working on the story.

Ok. Before the story can proceed further, I need 2 things:-

Links to find Genuine Information on what happened to each of the characters after the war, as explained by J.K.R .

Some patience , as I'm working on a really exceptionally long chapter. But I can guarantee this , that the wait will be worth it.

2 more chapters will be up soon.


	4. A long due discussion

Ron Weasley stormed up the stairs to his old dorm room. He was tired, weary, hungry, sleepy & now, completely irate, because, like so many other times, he'd made a complete idiot of himself in front of his best mate, his girlfriend ( would she even consider him her boyfriend after such a show of idiocy?), & worse of all, his _little _sister, & knowing full well the devil she was, he braced himself for at least a weeks worth of teasing & embarrassment & teasing from her, not to mention the rest of his brothers, who he was sure would find out before they went to bed later that night.

Swearing & cursing loudly, all thoughts of sleep having vanished in an instant, only to be replaced by devising excuses that would save him from embarrassment, he kicked open the door to his old dorms & made a beeline for his old bed. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the dorm was still as it used to be earlier. He'd been expecting only three beds to be there – one each for Seamus, Neville & the last one for himself( to be used when he would have returned to school after having gotten over his spattergroit). He plopped down at the foot of his old four-poster, took out his wand & cast a locking charm at the door; & then climbed into bed , yanked the curtains close around himself & threw himself back down.

He tried to sleep, but it was useless. He tossed & turned, twisted this way & that, he rolled over continuously, but it was no use. Utterly irritated, he resigned himself to just lay back & stare at the curtains around him he'd missed for the last year, and then he heard a knock on the door. He did not answer immediately.

Another knock sounded, & this was the last straw for him. He was just about to pull himself up and go hex whoever it was when Hermione's voice called out.

"Ron?"

"What?" He snapped, doing nothing to hide his irritation. "Come to insult me some more?"

"Oh come on, Ronald. You know I didn't mean to insult you."

"Oh Yeah?" He called out in a mocking voice. "Well I've here's a newsflash. You knew Ginny was there, didn't you?"

"So what Ron if Ginny was there. She's your sister after all, where else would she be if not there with us & Harry?"

"Right," He snorted, "By tonight, all of my family will be having my arse on a platter."

"That's enough Ronald. You open this door right now or I'm coming in on my own anyway."

"Don't you-" he spluttered, but then he heard Hermione's voice, followed by a clicking sound & he heard the sound of the door opening. Reluctantly he opened the curtains to see a very flustered looking Hermione standing at the door.

"You've got this far" Ron commented dully, resigning himself to the worst "Might as well come in."

She walked forward into the room, and sat down on Harry's old bed. Ron looked at her once, and at seeing the worried look on her face, scolded himself for being short with her. He couldn't bear to keep looking in her direction & turned away from her.

Hermione recognized the hurt on his face & suddenly felt very ashamed of herself. She had risked exposing her true feelings for him, not caring that they were in the middle of a war,& had been truly delighted when he'd responded back eagerly to her. Now she had risked it all by her stupidity. He'd only wanted to keep her company, and she'd gone and made fun of him. What if he refused her now?

Neither said anything for a long while. The only sounds audible were from outside, of the bird chirruping & owls hooting to each other in a solemn sort of way as they carried news to & fro from the center of the greatest battle the wizarding world had seen in a century. Unable to take it any longer, Hermione said in a timid voice

"I'm sorry Ron. I should've realized that you were tired."

"Yeah! Right." Came back the reply in a flat voice .

"And I promise to be more considerate from now on." She said meekly.

"Like that'll help me & save me the embarrassment already due." He retorted, trying very hard not to let any bitterness creep into his voice.

"Oh grow up Ronald. Ginny won't do anything of the sort. You know that perfectly well." She huffed.

"What?" Ron said incredulously, turning around to look at her & hoisting himself up on one elbow. " She hasn't let a single chance to humiliate me slip by since she was born. What makes you think that she'll let this treat pass by so easily?"

"Ron" she replied in a tone she might have used with a toddler. "No one is in any mood to poke fun at anyone else. There have been too many losses to even think about such childish displays, let alone go through—" she cut off abruptly, for Ron's face went from incredulous to miserable in an instant; his lips went into a thin line, his eyes closed as if in agony, and Hermione put her hands over her mouth in shock as she realized where she'd brought the conversation too without realizing it. She knew where Ron's thoughts had drifted to.

Fred! Fred, who would never be there to tease Ron again, who'd never be there to put his brain behind some more new & ingenious entertaining products, to be tested on his unsuspecting brothers (except George of course.)

At the thought of George came another pang. Hermione had always known the twins to be one unit, inseparable except for the very worst, horrid possibility which had materialized into existence tonight. Hiding her face behind her hand, she said timidly "I'm Sorry."

She heard his sharp intake of breath, & parted her hands a bit. Her heart sank horribly at what she saw. Tears were falling thickly from behind tightly eyes shut so tight as if opening them would burn them. She had never once seen Ron cry & now his face was scrunched up in torment. Instantly she crossed over to his bed, and put her arms around him, bringing his face to rest on her shoulder.

"Once he…charmed my…underwear to bite…my…you know" he muttered, speaking as though every word was causing him unendurable agony. She tightened her hold around him, yet keeping it gentle.

"Another time the…the twi…well, they turned m… me into a n-niffler…and then they laid …galleons all around…for me to go after…As soon…as soon as I held one, they …they would tu-turn into spi…spi…sp" and he began to howl with sobs.

Hermione held him tight to her chest. She truly had no words of comfort for him then. She used to pride herself upon being called the smartest witch of the age, and now found to her dismay that she had no words of comfort to offer. Her heart constricted with pain for Ron. She knew that Ron was the twins favorite (though only for teasing & pranking), but she often found that the brotherly squabbles were something she envied often, having no siblings herself. Once she had mentioned this to the twins, whose faces had lit up with excitement, & they had graciously offered her Ron's place, which had made her hastily take her words back, as they continued to snigger at her.

She held him while he cried, forcing herself not to cry, telling herself to be strong for him.After sometime, Ron became quiet. She took out her wanted, pointed it at his face & gently cleaned it free of the tear marks. Then she conjured a handkerchief out of air & handed it to Ron. He blew his nose loudly into it.

"Thanks." Ron muttered.

"You OK now?" She enquired. She had to talk to him, even though she knew it wasn't the best of times to approach him with what she had to say, but the matter just couldn't be put off any longer. It had been too long, and since all the death eaters had either been captured or fled, it was even more pressing now to discuss it as quickly as possible.

"Yes."

"Ok." She said, a bit hesitantly, at which he looked up at her.

"What's the matter 'Mione? Are you OK? " he asked her gently. It truly amazed her that after everything that had transpired in the last few hours, he was still genuinely concerned about her.

"Wha—I –Oh –Oh yes. I'm Fine." She finished, stumbling over her words & twisting her hands anxiously in her lap. Apparently, Ron noticed this, & looked at her with an unusually stern gaze.

"What is the matter 'Mione?"

She looked up uncertainly at him, which was the last straw. He sat up, all thoughts about whatever her feelings were towards him gone in an instant, and without thinking, took her face in between his palms.

"Hermione. What's up? What's troubling you? Tell me, please." He finished, with a hint of pleading in his voice.

She looked into his eyes, and then down into her own hands.

"Ron. We need to talk."

Ron backed away from her slightly "Look Hermione. I didn't mean what I said, honestly I didn't. I thought that you would be exhausted & would want some company, that's why I asked. I didn't mean anything, honestly."

She looked up at him again with a blank uncomprehending expression on her face.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, puzzled?

"You know." He muttered. Suddenly Ron was aware that Hermione's face was still cupped in his hands, & she was sitting on his bed & hadn't said anything, even though he'd stopped crying.

Trying very hard to keep his any part of his face from showing the redness he knew was forcing it's way onto it, he hastily removed his hands from her face, & settled instead for just holding her hands.

At first, the happiness that had found it's way into Hermione's heart when he'd held her face, went crashing away in the instant he removed his hands. But then when he held her hands instead, she was genuinely surprised. She couldn't understand why he'd lowered his hands. Then, quite suddenly, realization dawned on her at seeing Ron's reddening face. Then, despite the absurdity of the thought, & to both Ron's & her own surprise, she burst out laughing.

"Oh No Ron. Oh dear god no ."…She managed to say, trying to hold in her laughter at the look on Ron's face, which had changed several shades of red, from a faintest pink to the deepest crimson, all within a matter of minutes.

Ron, who was now highly irritated, burst out bitterly:

"See? See what I told you? You yourself aren't able to hold in your laughter, and you thought that Ginny would stay quiet like an innocent little lamb"? He finished, looking highly discomforted.

"No Ron, Honestly!" she panted, trying to hold in her laughter. "I was not going to suggest what you're thinking about. Though I have to admit, you look incredibly cute in that shade of red. It goes well with your hair. I'd like to see it more often, if you don't mind." She finished, giggling slightly.

"Don't worry. You'll be seeing a lot of it soon enough, once Ginny goes into action mode." He said. Perhaps he'd forgotten to be worried at that thought; for his heart had started dancing the instant she'd called him cute.

"But there's still no reason to rub it in, you know."

"No. Oh, I'm sorry, it's- it's just so funny.." Hermione choked. Then she forced herself to remember what she'd wanted to talk about to him, and turned serious once more.

"Ron! We've got to go to Australia." She said.

Ron looked up at her dead serious tone.

"What?" Ron spluttered. "But why 'Mione? This isn't any time for a hol—Oh. I see." He finished gravely.

For a brief moment, Hermione had been shocked when he had nearly mentioned that she was suggesting a holiday. Hadn't they gone through enough to last ten holidays? She herself wanted to do nothing else but relax for a few days, but this was a question of HER PARENTS. She owed them both an apology & an explanation, there could be no compromises on that part. She looked up when Ron spoke

" But why so soon. Let us rest a few days. I mean, everyone is tired, and there are.." he continued, gulping heavily, "the burials to attend to. Surely we can go after that?"

"No Ron" Hermione replied exasperatedly. " Some of the death eaters may have fled this country, and if they do , by chance stumble across, and recognize …"she trailed off, unable to continue as the horrific thought formed in her mind.

Ron was alarmed by how scared she looked. All pretence forgotten, he immediately gathered her in his arms, and she went without objection. He rested her head gently upon his chest, and stroked it slowly.

" It's Ok 'Mione. We'll leave in three days, if it's fine with you. We can't leave immediately though. I don't want to leave mum. You know what she's going through, right?"

"Yes. Fine, We'll leave in three days. But you're sure, aren't you, that your family wouldn't object." She enquired nervously. She didn't want any of the Weasleys to go through any more pain & trouble than they were already going through and what still lay ahead to go through before anyone from the wizarding world could really move on.

"No. I guess everyone else will be there, so it'll not be as if mum'll be alone. Besides, I've talked it out thoroughly with Bill earlier today. He told me that we could go right ahead; him and dad would assist mum. No, I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to go." He told her.

Hermione looked up at him, happy that he'd not forgotten after all. " Thanks." She replied. All her apprehension was gone the moment Ron had held her in his arms, and therein she felt as if nothing bad could occur to her, nothing evil could touch her. Slowly she raised her head to kiss him. Ron responded back lovingly, showing her just how much she meant to him.

After a while, they broke apart. Ron was looking at her with such a tender expression in his eyes, that she found it hard even to speak. She had waited seven bloody years for him to get his head out of his arse, and was glad for the fact that when they had come together finally, it was at a time both of them were free to cherish each other.

Ron grinned at her stunned look, and caught his breath when she smiled at him. She had no idea of how much he loved her. She was his deepest strength, his best comfort, and also, his nicest(even though a little annoying at times)teacher. He gently kissed her forehead. " Go to sleep now, Hermione. I'll go tell McGonagall to make arrangements with Kingsley for the international portkey, and then I'll come back." He got out of the bad, kissed her once more, and headed out of the room. Hermione's had felt her heart flutter rapidly & her face had lit up with a smile as he had grinned at her, and the smile was still plastered on her face as she lay back on Ron's old bed and fell blissfully asleep.

Ron bounded down the staircases to the common room. Truth be told, he was a bit apprehensive about what he'd do when he did meet Hermione's parents. He had never been one to understand complicated situations such as they were about to meet together. Tracking down Hermione's parents wasn't going to be an easy task, as she hadn't kept the knowledge of their whereabouts with her for their own safety. Australia was no Burrow, if Bill was to be believed.

"_It definitely won't be easy to track them down if you don't know where they are. The muggle authorities might help, but to suddenly spot out two people who appeared within a gap of only one year, within a population of millions will not be an easy feat, given that no-one knows about their previous residence. Also it will be hard to locate them by the usual means that muggles use as they aren't likely to have any previous social records by the name '_Wilkins'._"_

Ron's heart had sank horribly at these words, for though Hermione was unusually bright, Bill had a lot more experience in these matters, having worked with various branches of Gringotts across the world.

He was also nervous about what would happen when he came face to face with Hermione's parents. The fact that their only daughter had been forced to trick her own parents in order to assist some world of whose existence they hadn't even known about till seven years previously; that she'd vanished without any hint of where she was going off with two boys , and one of them ( Ron gulped ), her boyfriend might not go down so good in her parent's opinion of Ron.

But he knew without a doubt that Hermione would be able to explain. Still, he didn't want her to have to go through the entire grueling process alone. He'd be there for her. The fact that one day, he would be seated in front of his future in-laws ( Whoa! Where did that come from?) with his love, calmly discussing their significant contribution to Lord Voldemort's downfall over a nice cozy evening tea, brought an amused smile to his face, which vanished as soon as he spotted who were asleep on the couch in the common room.


	5. Fighting For Feelings

Harry turned over in his sleep, straightening himself on to his back as did so. He felt Ginny's hand, which was previously pressed against his chest, slide down to rest onto his stomach & felt her move her head closer to him over his right arm. Subconsciously he reached over to hold her hand that was resting on his stomach, but then he felt two stronger arms upon his chest. Before he had the chance to open his eyes to register them, he felt the couch slide out from under him. Then he was flying through the air, nearly dragging Ginny off the couch as he collided painfully against the cold bricks surrounding the fireplace. Next he knew, he was flying through the air, his head exploding open with pain. Stars swam rapidly before his eyes, & blinding pain cleaved through his already tired head as if it had been sliced into two. He clutched at his head, crying out in agony.

Ginny screamed at Ron "What in the name of the devil has gotten into you"? She turned to help Harry, but as soon as she spotted Ron advancing on Harry again, she drew her wand in one fluid movement.

"_Petrificus Totalis!" _she screamed, and Ron was frozen in mid step. Ginny saw his eyes blaze with mad fury as he looked from her to Harry. She however didn't have much time to focus on the reason of that fury, as Harry was howling with pain. She pocketed her wand, hurried over to Harry, and cradled his head in her arms, massaging it gently.

Harry's vision swam in & out of focus at a dizzying rate as he fought to get his bearings. Vaguely on the brink of unconsciousness, he heard Ginny scream at someone & then put a body-bind curse upon the person who had attacked him. He felt Ginny lift his head gently and massage it gently, which eased the pain somewhat, though it still throbbed from the impact with the brick wall.

"Are you Ok Harry?" Ginny asked anxiously, and then gasped as her hand felt something wet. She lifted her palm and saw blood. She looked at Harry's head, and was startled to see blood matting his hair. Anger flooded through her, but she would deal with Ron later, he wasn't going anywhere soon. Her only concern was whether Harry had not fractured his skull against the wall. He'd been through enough torment already, and didn't need anything else that her fool of a brother could provide without giving a second thought to the consequences. Ron's rash and impulsive acts had always irritated her to no end, and he was very lucky not to be howling with pain like Harry was. She would give him a prolonged taste of the bat-bogey later, while keeping him immobilized. That ought to teach him better than to fling sleeping people out of bed.

"I– Ow. I – I-yeah, I'm fine. OW" Harry winced, as she accidentally pressed his head a little hard to stop the bleeding. He saw the outline of something thin Ginny point at his head, and closed his eyes as Ginny siphoned off the blood congealing his hair, and then heard her mentioning a healing charm. The pain increased for a moment, and he cringed, but then it started to recede as Ginny moved her wand over his head, murmuring softly under her breath. The pain started to subside, and he could vaguely make out her face above his. It did swim in and out of focus now, but was still blurred, and his eyes were watering heavily. He gingerly lifted a hand to clear the moisture obscuring his vision, and winced again as he pressed harder than he intended.

"Here, let me" Ginny said softly. She took out her handkerchief and gently dabbed the moisture away from his eyes. Then she leaned down to gently kiss him on the forehead. He closed his eyes at her touch.

"Are you sure you're fine?" she enquired, still concerned that he might have attained some other small, but serious damage.

"Yeah. I think so. Glasses…" he muttered weakly.

"Here. Come on." She helped him onto his feet gingerly, and helped him across to the couch. Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry noticed the blurred outline of his attacker, a little taller than him. As his brain worked a little harder to register the person without the aid of his glasses, his head throbbed painfully with the effort. Giving it up as a bad job, he allowed Ginny to place him on the couch, and he fell back against the backrest. Then the world came into focus as Ginny put his glasses on.

It had grown considerably brighter than when they'd fallen asleep. The sun was high up in the sky, so Harry guessed it must be close to noon. However, the time was immaterial now. He gazed in bewilderment as he registered his attacker, still frozen stiff by Ginny's curse and sending him death glares.

"Ron?" Harry was totally confused; and the more he thought, the more painfully his brain hammered against his head. Why would Ron want to throw him against the wall in midsleep, when he himself had been too tired to stand up a few hours ago? But then, he saw Ginny advance towards Ron. The expression on her face did not look goof for Ron, and he could see Ron's eyes widen with fear. She levitated him into the air with a flick of her wand, and fixed him in such a position such that he was facing the couch. He really had to marvel at Ginny's skill.

"Right," said Ginny to Ron in a voice laced with venom in every syllable. "I am going to free only your face from the body-bind, and then you better have an exceptionally good reason for this act unworthy of even the most lousiest Slytherin Ron, or else you're the one responsible for what happens to you next."

She came back to the couch, sat down, and gently helped Harry's head into the crook of her neck. Then she pointed her wand at Ron, and his face instantly became free of the curse, though the rest of his body remained frozen in an advancing position in mid air. But then, Harry heard Ron's furious roar, not directed at Ginny, but towards himself:

"YOU TWO-FACED LYING DOUBLE CROSSING BAST---" but he was cut off at another flick of Ginny's wand, the temporary freedom lifted.

"I warned you Ron" Ginny whispered coldly and lifted her wand again to hex Ron , but Harry managed to place his hand on her wand arm, dragging it down, as the bat bogey hex meant for Ron's face went soaring past his ear.

Eyes blazing with undisguised fury, Ginny looked down at Harry.

"What?" she spat.

"Let him say what he wants to, Gin. If he's going to say what I think he's going to say, then I better have this conversation done & over with right here right now, because this is between him and me."

"It is equally between him and me," she countered back, "as it is between you and him. This is about both of us in a relationship, and if he can't accept and respect our wishes and decisions, then he has to be taught to do so."

"Ginny, please just listen to me." Harry pleaded with her, rising slowly and gathering her in his arms. He gently cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand, and lifted her face up to face his own. He gazed directly into her bright brown eyes, which were ablaze with fury. "Ginny." He whispered, "Please don't hurt him, not today at least. He is greatly affected by the loss of Fred, and it is that pain which-"

"He's not the only one who lost Fred Harry." She warned. "He has no right to go and vent his anger wherever he feels he can."

"I understand Ginny," he did not miss the slight tremble in her voice as she said Fred's name. "I truly do. But listen to me. No. Just listen, and then you can speak." He said as she opened her mouth to argue; "Our relationship is re-existent as of today. He will always be your brother. No one can change these two facts. But I have to make sure that my relationship with my best mate doesn't get upset because of some impulsive actions on his part and some angry reactions on your part. He doesn't know…" and here Harry again lowered his voice to a whisper so that only she could hear "…what passed between us during the break-up; what you said to me before he walked in on us in your room on my birthday. I will not directly tell him the facts, they were our private discussions and no one will ever know them; but I will make sure that he understands and respects our relationship and our decisions from today onwards. But at least allow me to hear what he has to say, so that I at least have a chance to settle this down happily between all of us. I promise you, that whatever the outcome of my discussion with him, it won't separate us again." With that, he closed the gap between them and kissed her gently, slowly and lovingly.

Ginny hated it. Hated it when he was being sickeningly noble and yet absolutely right at the same time. However, she was more afraid of the fact that something Ron might say would cause him to distance himself from him again, and though, little assurance his promise was, she reluctantly turned to face Ron.

"You should be grateful to Harry that I didn't curse your head off." she said coldly. " However, after I free you, if you make even one move to hurt him, then not even Harry will be able to save you. Understand?"

Ron was practically simmering with anger and knew that the moment Ginny set him free; it would burst out of him and cover the room. He took a few deep shaky breaths and nodded.

Ginny sighed and with a wave of her wand, let him fall from the air onto the floor. She was careful, however, to raise him a few inches first into the air, and then, letting him crash down onto the floor, she pressed her head against Harry's chest, facing Ron. Harry made no move to get up and help Ron, but firmly wrapped one arm around Ginny and held her hand with his free one. He made no attempt to keep some distance between himself and Ginny; he couldn't bear to part with her anymore than he had to.

"Please go sit in that armchair Ron," she sighed, snuggling against Harry and pointing with her wand to an armchair directly opposite them. Ron eyed the wand warily, and went quietly to the armchair, though inside fury was building in him like a volcano ready to explode.

He turned as he reached the designated armchair, and sat down on it. He was furious with Harry for breaking his promise, and revulsion had risen wildly inside him when Harry had kissed her, not caring that he, Ron was present there. What did Harry care about anyone now that Voldemort was gone? Did he think he could do whatever he wanted? No, he would not let this relationship continue if he could help it. Goodness knew that Ginny could be impractical in her anger, and that was what was causing her to take Harry's side. But he remembered all to well how miserable Ginny had been after he'd dumped her. She hadn't come out of her room for days except to just eat, and even then she'd been too quiet for his comfort. He'd thought she might need some company, but she'd refused him away blandly. She'd even been closed during Remus's & Tonk's wedding, and Ron had been miserable seeing her like that. In the end, it was their mother who had gotten her to ease up a bit, though she absolutely forbid anyone from bothering Ginny about her distress.

As the youngest male Weasley he had been closer to Ginny than any other of his brothers, and that bond had only deepened when they'd been left alone at the burrow after Fred and George had went off to Hogwarts for the first time. Ron knew that any affection Harry showed Ginny now would cause her to get her hopes up again, and also knew that another heartbreak like that would leave her shattered forever, no matter how strong a face she kept outside. A large number of the death eaters were still free, and Ginny would be prime target once she got involved with Harry again. It would be best for everyone if he kept away from her. His attitude when they'd heard that Ginny had been punished was proof enough that Harry had never really cared for Ginny. Gathering all these thoughts to himself, Ron lashed out at Harry, apparently unable to restrain himself from shouting:

"What are you doing with her? I told you not to mess with her head."

"Ron. No one's messing with my head. It's you who are evidently messed up. Harry and I are back together." Ginny continued, and repointed her wand at Ron when he looked ready to get up to strike, " and I've told you uncountable times earlier, keep out of my private life, which, for some unfathomable reason, you seem pathetically incapable of doing. It's entirely my business whom I choose to date and what I do with them. It isn't any concern of yours if Harry and I are sleeping together, snogging each other or even shagging."

"YOU GUYS ARE SHAGGING?" Ron's eyes bulged, and he made to get up again, but Ginny slashed her wand through the air and he was flung back hard onto the armchair.

"NO," Ginny hollered back, "but you would have been quite a few hours shy of keeping me your innocent little sister if Harry hadn't stopped me."

But Harry could feel Ron's anger radiating palpably from every millimeter of the room. He looked at Ron and could clearly see the anger, the pain and the anguish in his eyes. He knew Ron loved his family dearly, and if the pain which Ginny had gone through was anywhere near what he himself had felt after their break up, then it must have been awful for him to have seen Ginny like that. This, added to the loss of Fred today, was proving too much for Ron to handle, and therefore Harry knew that he had to be calmed down before any vague attempt at normal conversation could be made. However, Ginny's temper was not helping things.

"Ginny! Please calm down." Harry begged her, and then turned to Ron, but Ron cut him short:

"He doesn't care about you Ginny. He doesn't give a damn as to what you had to go through because of him. He doesn't care one bit about what he's doing to you. First he breaks up with you, not because he cares for you, but he doesn't want anything that might occur to you on his conscience. Then he goes and kisses you, giving you false hope, messing you up further without a single thought as to what he is doing to you. Then when I try to stop him, he lamely says that he was cut up too. He didn't see you suffer because of him, just because he couldn't keep his emotions and hormones under control. Is that what you look for in your boyfriends?"

Harry was bewildered. How could Ron think that he'd treat Ginny so abominably? It was taking all the self restraint he possessed not to get up & punch Ron to a pulp. What did Ron know about his feelings for Ginny? How could he possibly know that right from their escape from the wedding nine months back to the battle that day, Harry had been consumed in worry for Ginny? It had been alright for him, hadn't it, to warn Harry to lay off Ginny before the wedding, and then dance away with Hermione to his heart's content, while Harry had been forced to watch and accept? How could Ron possibly know of the innumerable times he had thought of Ginny during their mission? How could anyone possibly gauge the depths of his feelings for Ginny? It had been thoughts about her that had enabled him to go through what would cause the bravest man on the earth to put his tail between his legs and go live in a cave somewhere for the rest of his life. He'd been thinking about her subconsciously every time when he found himself alone. His thoughts had turned to her when he'd had looked towards the burrow's direction form Luna's house; the sight of her alive had kept him from giving up when Ron had left& Hermione had distanced herself from him. Fear for Ginny had clutched his heart like an iron fist after he'd seen Fred die, and here Ron was accusing him of playing with Ginny's emotions.

But Ron couldn't be blamed for not knowing all of this, as these were the deepest feelings his heart had ever had for someone, and he'd kept it all buried miles inside himself. Even less did he want to tell anyone else before he told Ginny, because she was the only one who deserved to know, and nobody else had any right to know, but the situation warranted otherwise.

And who was Ron to talk about him keeping his emotions under control. Ron had lost control of his own emotions more times than Harry cared to count. He had walked out on him and Hermione, hadn't he? And what did he know about emotions? Had Ron ever had to walk to his own death, like Harry had had to? Had he ever counted his heartbeats, carefully registering each one, as Harry had done on his way to the forest that night? Had he ever carefully measured each breath, trying to keep the scent of the earth from entering his nostrils, dreading that he'd never smell it again? Had Ron ever had to stop himself from seeking those that he loved, knowing that at one sight of them, the fate of the wizarding world could be jeopardized?

Anger was starting to simmer and stew in Harry now. He had a good mind to tell Ginny about Ron's walking out on him right there and leave Ron to her mercy. But he forced a clamp on all those emotions and tried to calm himself down. As from a long way off, he heard Ginny's icy voice directed at Ron.

"Doesn't care about me?" she seethed; 'DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ME?" Ginny screamed out so loud that Harry heard several birds sitting on tree outside the window take flight in alarm. "He broke up with me to keep me safe, not caring about how much pain it was causing him. Do you think I didn't see his anguish when he had to do it? Is that what you think? Do you think that nobody saw his fear, not for his own life, but for our lives when he arrived at our home Ron? Do you think that I didn't see the longing in his eyes for me when he was at the burrow? Was it his fault that everybody too close to him had died and all he could do was to try to distance himself from those he loved so that they may not suffer? Didn't he try to push you and Hermione away too, and go off alone?"

She freed herself from Harry and stood up.

"After you three escaped at the wedding, the death eaters came calling. They knew all about my relationship with Harry, no doubt informed by Malfoy or some other Slytherin lout. They threatened to capture me and torture me, to lure Harry out of hiding; until I screamed at them that he left me, that he broke my heart. It was the pain of that heartbreak, which must have showed on my face and convinced them that we really had broken up. That pain helped me escape certain torture. Would you have wanted otherwise Ron? Would you've wanted them to capture me and then torture me? A girl can be tormented in ways much more dreadful than a boy can be tortured Ron, and the death eaters certainly aren't above doing that. Is that what you wished for to happen to me? Because if you did, which is the only reason you can have to blame Harry for breaking up with me, then you haven't ever considered me your sister."

Ron opened his mouth to counter back, but was cut short by Ginny.

"And now you come down here Ron, flinging him out of sleep to keep him from hurting me anymore; and where you that time, if my safety and well being is much more important to you than anything else? Where were you all the time in my first year, when out of sheer lack of company, I had to turn to Riddle's diary for companionship? Harry wasn't my boyfriend then. Hell, he hardly knew anything about me at that time; but where were you?" she accused Ron venomously. "Even Percy was more attentive towards me at that time, even though it was his O.W.L. year. Where the hell were _YOU?"_

Harry knew that Ron's anger was driven more by grief and less by thought, as it always had been; and that Ron wasn't quite himself. He also didn't see Ginny restraining herself much longer from hexing Ron, and he was not at all inclined to be the reason of a rift between the two youngest Weasley siblings, whose red faces were indistinguishable from their flaming hair. He got up and placed a gentle, but firm grip on Ginny's shoulders. She relaxed from her tensed position at his touch, and was about to tell him off for interrupting what was indoubtably her own discussion with her brother, but Harry was focused steadily towards Ron. She sighed heavily and let him pull her close.

Harry stared directly into Ron's blue eyes, and spoke in a dead quiet whisper, that it might have been part of the breeze coming in through the window and rippling the curtains:

"I had thought Ron, that after everything you've watched me go through, at least you would appreciate the fact that I deserved some happiness, at the end of it all."

"I don't have a problem with _your_ happiness." Ron sneered. "But I do take strong objection that your happiness causes painful grief to my younger sister."

Ginny raised her wand at Ron again, but he did not flinch. Harry thought that Ron must think that Ginny wouldn't hex him, as she already would have if she'd really wanted to. However, Harry could feel Ginny's body shaking with anger, and knew that Ron was sadly deluded.

Only the pain of losing Fred was holding Ginny back from cursing Ron's body into oblivion, and she was too tired to argue anymore. Anger coursed through her veins faster than blood, and Ron was being infuriating. However, Harry's sad tone caused her to look at him in panic, as she didn't want him to go back into depression. He was restraining to keep his emotions in check, and Ginny felt a surge of grief at the reason he wasn't hitting back at Ron. Reluctantly she allowed Harry to guide her back to the couch.

Harry sat down on the couch with Ginny and pulled her towards him. He placed an arm around her shoulders and took her wand hand in his other free hand. Ginny sighed and placed her head in the crook of his neck. She turned to face Ron, but as she saw him glaring at Harry, she glared right back.

"Harry. Please just let me hex him and have it over with. I'm too tired to talk about anything else right now, and you need your rest. Please – " but she cut off at an abrupt scream from Ron.

"Yeah, that's right. Curse my head off. Don't you see Ginny; he's already turned you against me. He's an expert at using the circumstances to his advantage. He'll pretend that he cares about you, then he'll use you, and in the end he'll ditch you again. Why would he want you anyway, now that all the witches in the wizarding world will be begging him to date them?"

"ENOUGH." Ginny yelled so hard that several windowpanes rattled and the birds that had settled down on the tree outside were scared into flight once again. "Enough. How do you know what he'll do? Are you a mind reader, or have you got a connection into Harry's mind like tom did? And if you do, why didn't you use it to try and stop him from going to surrender himself? And why would he want me? The same reason you want Hermione, but at least he has the guts to tell me that directly! Oh, and I'll tell you this too – he's already sworn to me THAT HE'LL NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN." She yelled, completely besides herself now.

"WHAT?" Ron was incensed at this last remark. How dare Harry give Ginny such false hope, knowing that he'd be the prime target of the death eaters still looking for revenge? He faced Harry now: "YOU F- " but he was but off by a voice from the direction of the boy's dormitories staircase entrance.

"Ron. What's going on? Why are you ye-" Hermione said, appearing at the foot of the staircases, but Ron jumped up from his chair, reached her in two quick strides and nearly dragged her to face Ginny alongside him. Still shooting daggers at Harry with his eyes, he thundered:

"Tell her, Hermione. Tell Ginny how he laughed when we heard that she'd got caught for trying to steal the sword and Snape had punished her cruelly, sending her to serve detention in the forest of all places. Is that what a bloke does about the girl he cares for?"

Harry had finally had enough. Not breaking eye contact with Ron, he gently let go of Ginny and then shot up out of the couch, advancing on Ron with cold fury in his eyes.

"I laughed out of RELEIF FOR HER." He screamed into Ron's face, past caring whether Ron hit him now or did anything else. "I laughed because I was relieved. Hagrid would never have harmed her, knowing what she was going through already. No one, either at the school or outside, knew about Snape's arrangement with Dumbledore. How could I not have been relieved? I had been scared shitless when I heard that she'd been caught. I had imagined the Carrows torturing her, using the bloody Cruciatus on her."

He advanced on Ron, and jabbed his finger directly at Ron's chest. "Remember when you asked Bellatrix to take you for torturing instead of Hermione? Remember your panic when Bellatrix was cursing her? Remember how frenzied you were at her screams, and were going berserk at the thought of not being able to help her? Remember your desperation as you tried to find a way out of there to help her? Remember that Ron. The same feelings, magnified a hundred times, had me paralyzed with fear as to what was happening to Ginny. My breath had caught; I could not breathe properly, let alone speak. But when I heard that she'd been sent to Hagrid, then I was overwhelmed with relief. Hagrid would never harm any of the students, especially her, because he knew all about our relationship. That's why I laughed. It was purely out of relief."

"Hagrid would never harm any of the students," Ron mimicked contemptuously. "Norbert was a cuddly & fluffy little bunny rabbit, wasn't he? Fluffy was supposed to wag his tails when patted, and fetch our slippers for us, wasn't he? Hagrid sent us to Aragog's birthday party, didn't he? Tell me Harry, was Hagrid training hippogriffs to use as a replacement for brooms, or as a quick getaway means in times of trouble. The skrewts he was growing _illegally_ were for warming our beds, weren't they?"

"THAT'S IT.", Harry shouted, now drawing the elder wand form his pocket,

"THAT'S IT, Ron. I've had enough of your nonsense now to last me a lifetime. I'm not having it, I 'm telling you right now. I won't hear a word against Hagrid or anyone. You've proven in your conversation with Ginny that you don't give a rat's fart as to what occurs to me. You've proven that my emotions and feelings mean about as much to you as getting cow dung for dinner, but I won't have you insulting those who've cared or still care genuinely about me. I see now, that how wrong I was to think that you would listen to reason. Perhaps I would have done better to let Ginny hex the shit out of you. It would have saved us both a lot of time for resting."

"You know what; I think Aberforth was greatly mistaken. Brains like that; you couldn't even be a death eater! Never had to think about anyone except yourself, have you? Never had a clue that I was pining after Ginny the entire year, did you? Never gave a thought as to what I might be going through after Dumbledore's death, did you? Never have you paused to think that I am a human being with feelings too! Never have you appreciated the fact that the burden placed on me was more than what most people could suffer in a lifetime. I've grown up in the worst of abominable conditions Ron, not like you who had six square meals a day from the day you were born. I was orphaned since before I could talk, and I've had to live ten blasted years with the sort of muggles who are worse than the death eaters. I've lost more people than I can count who loved me selflessly, and willingly gave their life for me, all because a stupid madman was afraid that I would be his end."

"You think you've lost & suffered more than everyone else? Look at me; I've lost the last remaining link I had to my parents. My godson's orphaned because his parents gave their life for me. I've had to go and practically die to save anyone else from the same fate, for crying out loud, and yet I've to life forever with the guilt that if I'd been quicker, many more innocent lives would have been saved. And you know what the worst part is? I can't expect anyone to really understand because I can't tell anyone to walk calmly to their own death, like I had to, and that too within half an hour. Imagine that, half an hour to live. Imagine, when you're suddenly over aware of your heart beating, your blood racing in your veins, your mind thinking about what will happen at the end. Imagine, that everyone around you has hours, days, months, _years to live_, and all you get is half an hour. And all through it I had to keep calm and not panic, because the job entrusted to me wasn't still over."

"Is that what you wanted Ron? Did you want me not to break Ginny's heart, but lead her to her own death? Forgotten already, have you, that he'd already used her as bait before, and that I & Ginny both nearly died that time? Don't remember, do you, that Riddle planted a fake mage in my mind, but all the same, Sirius died because of that?"

Ginny looked up in alarm. This was exactly where she didn't want the conversation to go. It had been hard enough on Harry to have to go through it once, but he was having to relive it all over again. She started to get up, but Harry turned around at the sound of her first step. Everything was quiet as she came over to Harry's side. The only sounds were of people basking in the sunlight outside in the castle grounds, and of the owls still hooting to each other as news continued to pour into & out of Hogwarts. She opened her mouth to speak, but Harry placed a gentle finger on her lips and shook his head softly.

"No Ginny! You've said enough to him already, and apparently it's not been enough to make him see sense. You can go sleep upstairs in your dorm, or with your parents. But if you want to stay here, then just relax."

Turning to Ron Harry continued "You know what Dumbledore said to me after Sirius's death. He told me that Voldemort had gleaned enough information form Kreacher to know that Sirius was the one person I'd go any lengths to rescue. What happened as a result of that? The death of the person closest to a parent I've ever known. Did you want the same thing to happen to Ginny? Even if you did, I did not."

"I never had a problem with your dating Ginny." Ron said vehemently, jabbing Harry in the chest. It hurt painfully, but Harry didn't flinch. Nothing could be more painful than Ron's openly indecent of abuse of Harry's feelings. "In fact, I wanted you to be the one whom she'd date, in case you've forgotten. But even I didn't know that you'd be so selfish that first you'd break up with her, and then go and snog her, raising her hopes about what you couldn't possibly be sure of. Tell me one thing. If I hadn't stopped you that day; If she did get her hopes up, and you hadn't survived today, then what? She'd have been heartbroken all over again. It's not easy to watch your younger sister cry her heart out, and still not being able to do anything about it. Only thing I could do was ensure that it didn't happen again, and that's exactly what you're doing now?"

"We couldn't be sure of anything. It was a bleeding war that we were in. You think it was harder for you?" Harry hissed venomously. "You didn't even have the guts to tell Lavender that you didn't like her and break it up with her. You make me sick. You don't know what Ginny said to me after the funeral during our break up, nor did you know what she said to me in her room, and nor will you ever know. Suffice it to say that we didn't break up, but were forced apart, even though either of us would have given anything to avoid it. You think it was easy for me, still going through the separation, after hearing her deepest thoughts? It was even tougher than I expected it to be; knowing what I was putting her through. But it was necessary, it was right, because Voldemort wouldn't have hesitated one millisecond to use her to his advantage. He was a man without any conscience. All he cared about was power, and he did everything he could to seize it."

"In fifth year, he planted Sirius's memory in my mind because of two reasons. One, because the ministry was doing everything to ignore his return, and he was using that to his advantage. Don't you remember your dad being attacked? Two, because he couldn't get at Sirius directly, as Sirius was under Dumbledore's protection. But he still used all the cunning he had, and nearly managed to get what he wanted. Sirius died to prevent that."

Each time Harry said Sirius's name, he felt a stab of longing and regret, and trembled slightly. Neither Ginny nor Hermione missed this, and Ginny wrapped her arms firmly around his waist. Hermione freed herself from Ron's grip, and walked over to Harry's other side, held his hand & squeezed it gently. Harry took a few breaths to keep him calm, but it was taking all the self restraint he possessed not to curse Ron. He wrapped his wand arm firmly around Ginny, holding onto her for support. He felt like a coward, because it should have been him comforting her over her loss, and he knew how much effort she was exercising to keep her emotions in check. He wanted her to let go, vent some of her anger, but the Weasley family had already suffered enough. They could do without a rift between their two youngest.

Turning to Ron Harry continued "But in Ginny's case, situations were different, even though the perpetrator had grown, if possible, even more dangerous. He feared no one now that Dumbledore was dead, and was doing all he could to gain total control, while keeping his focus on me the entire time. How could I keep Ginny in anymore danger than she already was? Didn't I even try to stop you both from coming with me? The less people had anything to do with me, the safer they were. Mad – Eye's death proved that later on, didn't it?"

"I swear that if he'd used Ginny again to lure me out of hiding, I'd have gone without a single thought, just as I would have done for either of you. And then what? I'd have died, and so probably would she, and afterwards? The Horcruxes safe; Voldemort alive; and your family, being the biggest blood- traitors, would have been publicly humiliated and executed!"

"So I had to end things, because both of us knew it was the right thing to do, even though I needed her more than anyone else at the time. Ginny was the only one who could put me to nightmare free sleeps, which I've had less than a one year old baby. She was the only reason I didn't crumble after Dumbledore's death; her support was the only thing that kept me alive both inside and outside."

"Remember what Dumbledore said at the end of fourth year? He said that should the choice ever come in front of us to choose between what is right and what is easy, we should never waver- " but cut off as Ron sneered.

"Mate, you'll excuse me for saying this; but I don't set much store by Dumbledore's standards, because, in case you've forgotten; let me remind you that only a few hours previously, you told us that the man conked off his own sister, and then spent five years in hiding from Grindenwald like a coward because of his guilt, while people got murdered in his knowledge. But what would you know about feelings for your family? You never had one. "

Out of the four people in the room, only the females were able to process Ron's statement, and knew that a certain line had been crossed.

Harry was not aware of releasing Ginny. Neither was he aware of wrenching his hand free from Hermione. A distant part of him noticed Ron's eyes narrow as Hermione winced. Uncontrolled rage & fury tore through him like the most destructive tempest; anger clouded his vision, obliterating his senses to everything around him, as his temper which had been teetering on the edge of control for the previous hour snapped like a taut string which had been slashed with a sword. Blood flowing through his veins turned to a burning hatred, scorching him from the inside. Next second, he was aware of a sharp pain in his hand as he registered Ron hurtling away from him through the room, blood flying from his mouth like spit. The elder and phoenix wands were in his hand before Ron hit the floor, and before Ron got a chance to get his bearings, Harry slashed both wands through the air like a whip, sending two powerful punching hexes at Ron's face. There was a sickening crunch as the hexes made contact, and Ron howled in pain as he lifted his arms to cover his face from further attack. The next two hexes were aimed at Ron's genital area, as causing Ron as much pain as possible became more important than breathing, more necessary than feeling, more vital than living.

Ginny watched Harry's onslaught & made no attempt to stop or control him. She was shocked as she'd never been shocked before. Goodness knew that Ron deserved it, and she watched without emotion as Ron doubled over, screaming in agony. She knew that Harry would cause him no serious damage, but Ron's comment about Dumbledore was absolutely uncalled for. Dumbledore had been the only constant support and mentor throughout Harry's entire life; and she remembered all too well the immeasurable pain in Harry's eyes after his death, the pain which had made her grieve no end for Harry after their separation. She noticed Hermione's panic as Harry pummeled Ron, and noticed her move towards Harry with an expression of utmost terror. Quickly she drew her wand and cast a shield charm between Harry and Hermione.

Hermione turned to Ginny with a plea for mercy written all over her face.

"Ginny, please! Please stop him. He's gone mad with fury. Ron's already been through enough, he doesn't need this. Please, I'm begging you!"

"NO." Ginny said coldly, her eyes blazing with fury as she turned towards Ron. "I know he doesn't need this Hermione; he deserves it. I've a good mind to help Harry myself, and if you know what's good for you, keep out of the way. If you can't watch it, then go upstairs." She watched as Hermione tried in vain to break through the shield, but was unsuccessful, while Ron howled like a trampled dog.

"Ginny! Please!" Hermione begged her, tears falling freely. "He's already in a lot of anguish."

"WE ALL ARE," Ginny screeched over Ron's shouts. She watched Harry as he flung his wands aside, and moved to hit Ron with his fists, drawing up his sleeves as he advanced like lightening, his face set in a feral snarl.

"WE ALL ARE," Ginny thundered, now facing Hermione. "You didn't watch Harry howling with pain after Ron flung him headfirst at the fireplace wall, while we were asleep. He didn't need _that_" Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, shocked. She couldn't believe that Ron had done that. "You didn't see Harry's hair covered in blood like plaster; it was a miracle that his head didn't burst open. He didn't need _that!_You didn't hear any of the insults Ron hurled at Harry, making mincemeat of his feelings. He didn't need _that._Come here."

And she dragged Hermione forcefully across the room, away from the two fighting boys, and towards the fireplace. She pointed a trembling finger towards the side of the fireplace, and Hermione blanched as she noticed a bloodstain with a few hairs of a familiar raven colour. Face pale, she turned to watch the two boys locked in combat, fists and feet thrashing around wildly, attacking each other like savage wolves.

"He needed a good sleep. He didn't need _that._ Tell me Hermione, why should I stop him? If Ron's getting murdered, and I wouldn't be sorry if Harry did murder him; goodness knows I wanted more than anything to do it myself, it doesn't matter, because he has never been able to keep his nose out of other people's business, and he needs someone who can set him straight very badly; because for some reason, that's one thing my family has never been able to successfully achieve. Tell me, when has Harry ever lost control like this? When has he ever lashed out at someone like this except that time when Malfoy insulted my & his mum? "

"Ginny, Ron was only worried about you. He doesn't want to see you suffer. He knows nothing about what passed between you and Harry at the funeral or in your room. How can he understand what he doesn't even know about?"

"What he doesn't even know about? Tell me one thing! What else does he need to know? Is it not enough that he knows why we split up? Why does he deserve to know anything that's strictly private between me and Harry, which even-" Ginny jabbed her finger hard at Hermione's chest, "-you don't know. Nobody knows in my family, so what gives_him_ the right to know. Can't he learn to respect others' privacy?"

"Ginny. He –"

"_Shut up and Just LISTEN." _Ginny cut her off yelling, her voice rising in octaves. "What was it you said? He doesn't want to see me suffer? And you think Harry does, do you? If so, then you are no better than Ron. Find me one person who had the guts to do what Harry did, in his situation. Why do you think that he didn't break up with me the night professor Dumbledore died, and waited till the funeral? He's always had you two there with him, hasn't he; and you were still there, so why do you think he clung on to me desperately?"

"I'll tell you why. _Love._The only thing that Harry has had in such amounts that Voldemort couldn't bear to possess him. _Love._The only thing that helped him go through what no one else couldn't even think about. _Love._ The only thing because of which he could enable his self-sacrifice today, so that everyone else, including you two, could have a possible hope of a normal life . _Love._The only reason that you and me are standing here _alive_. , and so is your prat of a boyfriend"

"Love was what he had, and what kept him from breaking completely. The night Dumbledore died, he spent it alone with me in right here in this room. He requested me to stay, not caring about anything else; because he needed some love in return. That night was the most tormenting night of his life, even more tormenting than the one when he saw dad attacked or when Sirius died, that's what he told me, as he sobbed miserably throughout the night. And I stayed there with him, knowing what was to come, yet holding him and offering him all that I could."

"That's what we had between us. It was intimate in an entirely different way. Even though we had severely limited time together, we knew that whatever we had, it had to be made worth. The choice wasn't ours, we never had any; the only thing we had was each other, and we were both grateful for that."

"After professor Dumbledore's death, his eyes were pools of haunted misery; as I could see him dreading beyond anything that he would have to let me go. Even you knew that, didn't you, that night you asked me why he had become so indifferent?"

"Tell me Hermione. Is that what Harry deserves. Is he meant only to love, and not to be loved in return? Is he meant to suffer forever because he did the right thing?" Her eyes shone with unshed tears as she spoke.

"You know what really broke my heart? What really caused me so much pain and grief at home after he ended things?"

"He said that the time with me was like something out of someone else's life." The tears were slowly forcing their way out now. "Tell me, which sixteen year old boys' life hasn't been his own throughout living history. That's what made me so miserable, besides my own pain at being separated from him after such a wonderful time together. That's what made me cry silently at night for him, knowing that whatever he loved, he was forced to give up, or it would be taken away from him, and no one in this world could do anything to help him, as he would simply turn it away, just like he'd turned me away; just like he was thinking of going away as soon as he arrived at the burrow."

"I don't deny what you're saying. He deserves love from you, more than anyone. But Ron –"

"But Ron what? Did Ron once pause to think about the fact even once the last summer what Harry must be going through? Did he notice the searing pain in Harry's eyes as Harry was forced to give up my love and support, or even after it? Did your dear Ronald notice how distressed Harry, his best mate, who has saved more people of our family than one cares to count, was when he arrived at the burrow? Did he notice the overwhelming longing Harry was painfully suppressing each time he looked at me? Neither did he, and apparently, nor did YOU" she jabbed Hermione again, this time much harder and Hermione winced. But Ginny was past caring. "I expected you to understand and support him. But you just acted like a timid coward. I tried to do something for him, tried to take away some of his pain; make him forget his troubles, for however brief a time; because that's what he needed more than any planning at that time. Do you know how he responded? If the hungriness in his kiss and the strength of his hold on me was anything to go by; I would've sworn upon pain of death, that I was the only thing that existed for him in that moment & that he would've run away with me that very instant had that choice been provided to him; and I would've gone with him without second thought."

"And Ron interrupted that too. Couldn't you have kept him out of our private space for once? I saw you shut up without any of the resistance which you are showing here when you tried to do the right thing for once, and confront Ron to support Harry. But Ron silenced you and you shut up like a loser. That's what separates Harry from both of you, that he is able to do what is right, even though it may kill him from the inside; while you two aren't capable of doing that, that's why you always seek the easy way out. I saw the heartbreak in Harry's eyes as he was forced to go through yet more torture, more unbearable than any amount of Cruciatus could cause him; and you did nothing to stop it, even though you knew Ron would listen to _you_."

"But it didn't matter to you in the least, did it, as long as Harry was forced to accept this decision and lived with it? Pretty concerned you were, to the grief of someone whom you've always considered your brother. Have you ever seen someone forced to attend a wedding_disguised_? Did you notice even once,_ just for one fraction of a second; _while you were happily engrossed dancing away with Ron after the wedding ceremony was completed, that one certain teenager, younger than you both, was not even on the dance floor, but looking at me wistfully the entire time? Was that easy on him, watching you and Ron happy with each other, while he could not seek some happiness for his own? But even that didn't matter to you, did it, as you were lost in the dance with Ron. It wasn't your fault to dance, but couldn't you have just bothered once to check on Harry? Couldn't you have danced with him for some time, and comforted him a bit? But that didn't cross your mind even once, did it?"

"Why didn't Ron asked you to dance before Krum arrived? Because he's a bleeding jealous, selfish and lousy chicken; that's what he is. And you too chickened out just like him, while Harry was forced to listen to Muriel's ramblings."

"If you were so concerned, than why didn't you ask him yourself?" Hermione hissed, outraged, both because of the fact that that Ginny was being unreasonable, but not being able to deny that she was undeniably right too.

"BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO SUFFER ANYMORE ON MY ACCOUNT. _God,_ I swear you're even more dim-witted than Ron is. _The brightest witch of your age_, they call you? For all the brightness about feelings you showed towards Harry when he desperately needed you, those who gave you that recognition may have done better to commit suicide."

"Ginny! Please! Please calm down and look at them. They look about ready to tear each other apart." She knew that Ron had touched Harry's sorest nerves and tread on them remorselessly. Anger crashed over her at Ron too, as she took some time considering the impact Ron's words had had on Harry. She was utterly ashamed of herself when she considered everything Ginny had said in her rage, each point hitting home with the force of an ever increasing thunderstorm; knowing that she should have seen what Ginny had mercilessly pointed out to her and done better. She couldn't even look at Ginny. But Ginny gave her no attention anymore, only kept on looking at the fight with a stony, expressionless face.

Hermione tried once again to move towards the two boys thrashing wildly on the floor, but her progress was impeded by Ginny's shield. She tried in vain to break through the barrier again, noticing Harry's face set in anguish as he delivered a volley of kicks onto Ron's midsection.

Harry was having the upper hand in the fight. He'd received a fat lip and a throbbing in the side of the ribcage, but that was all the damage Ron had been able to inflict upon him in his pained condition. In fact, Harry hadn't even cared about taking on Ron physically, as he could register nothing sane at the moment. He got up and hauled Ron from where he was sprawled on the floor. He bunched Ron's collar in one fist and grabbed his hair roughly with the other, and forcefully lifted Ron's face to his. Moving his face to within an inch of Ron's, he hissed, keeping his voice at a carefully measured level so that Ginny couldn't overhear.

"You demented bastard. You twisted, ungrateful lout.You repulse me no end. Have you forgotten that loyalty to Dumbledore saved Ginny in the first place? Forgotten, have you, that Dumbledore foresaw you walking out on me, your _best mate_, and on Hermione, your _girlfriend,_whom you left to alone to cope with unpredictable danger, just because you couldn't keep your tummy under control? Slipped your mind, has it; that only because of Dumbledore's foresight was Aberforth able to send dobby to rescue us, without which Hermione would've suffered much worse at Bellatrix's hands; probably even driven insane? Don't remember that Dumbledore is the only reason that everyone belonging to your family except Fred still survived today. Entire families have been wiped out Ron, and yours would've been the first to follow had Dumbledore not guided me in bringing about Voldemort's destruction." Harry watched in satisfaction as Ron paled and cast an anxious glance in Ginny's direction.

"That's right." Harry breathed. "Want me to tell her? I doubt you'd be allowed to attend Fred's funeral. The only reason I've managed to keep it in is that I don't want your mother to suffer anymore than what she is already going through. Merlin knows her condition after Percy left you all. I've seen what form her boggart takes, and it's materialized into existence today. The last thing she needs right now is another clash between her two youngest children." All the pain he'd seen in his mother's eyes when she'd joined him at the entrance to the forest; all the anguish in Dumbledore as the old wizard cried remorsefully even after death, for an event that had transpired over eight years ago, swam in front of him and he painfully kept his breathing even, and tried to get his bearings. As he reigned in his anger, tears spilled out from his eyes, as the face of his mother, gazing longingly at him, came to the forefront of his mind. He threw Ron back roughly, tugged hard at his hair in frustration, knowing that Ron's emotions had gotten the better of him as they always did, and he should've known; as the experience of losing someone so close was completely alien to Ron. But he couldn't help it. He screamed aloud in frustration and kicked a chair furiously, sending it clattering away through the common room.

Ginny watched Harry going mad with pain, and quickly rushed towards him, disintegrating the shield with a flick of her wand wrist. She quickly put her arms around him, enclosing him in a firm embrace. Harry looked at her as if from afar, trying to register her. As his mind recognized her, he wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face in her hair over her shoulder. He held onto her for a few moments, composing himself, as the sweet smell of Ginny filled him like the draught of peace. Then he turned and faced Ron as Hermione helped him onto an empty chair, with a stony expression on her face. Then she came back to where Harry was standing without a backward glance, and Harry noticed her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He turned towards Ron.

"If you ever insult Dumbledore again, I swear I'll forget you're Ginny's brother."

Harry sank back on the couch, while Ginny fixed his injuries. As his pain subsided, he noticed Ron whimpering with pain. He'd expected Hermione to go and help Ron, but he knew that Hermione's sense extended beyond rash impulses and an uncontrolled mouth. She was looking towards Ron with absolute disgust. Harry took her hand in hers, and gave it a gentle squeeze. She squeezed back, grateful for the comfort. She had never imagined Ron to be capable of such an act, and closed her eyes.

Harry put his arm around her, and then turned to Ginny.

"Gin, please sort him out. I want this conversation finished once and for all." As Ginny whipped around to face Ron, Harry placed gently grabbed her wrist. "Don't hurt him anymore, for my sake." He whispered gently.

Ginny's anger peaked. She was angry near enough to finish what Harry had started. This wasn't nobility. It was foolishness. She opened her mouth to retort, but Harry got up and pulled her close. Gazing intently into her flashing brown eyes, he said softly.

"No Ginny. Think about your mum. Think about the rest of your family. They don't need to go through anymore than what they're already facing. "

Her lips trembled, but Harry gently caught it with his own, kissing her lightly and lovingly. Her anger melted away in his arms, and so did she, as the kiss made her go weak kneed, so that she was thankful for Harry's support. She did not care that Ron was there. She wouldn't have cared if her entire family, or indeed the entire wizarding world had been watching. All that she knew that she was being crushed under Harry's love as it shot through her straight into her heart and which filled her with unbounded warmth & happiness, her insides squirming for more, never wanting it to end. She didn't care if she passed out from lack of air. The kiss wasn't deep, but it was never meant to be. It was meant to show her how much this man loved her, and though he hadn't yet admitted it out aloud, she knew he was keeping it in, so that the first ears that his declaration went through would be hers.

Sometime later, Ginny let Harry pull away. She looked up at him with a dazed expression on her face, her breathing ragged and her heart racing twice as fast. He grinned down at her, running a hand through her silken hair, still holding her near to him with his other arm behind her waist. She just got more beautiful each passing second, as he looked into her eyes with enormous affection and tenderness.

"Nice to know I still have that effect." He said cheekily, smiling down at her.

"Don't let it get into your head Potter. Punishment still remains due, and there will be no mercy." She said back just as cheekily, but unable to hold her smile form showing.

God, she pierced him every time with that smile, her face more radiant than sunlight.

"Go." He whispered softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, but still holding onto her.

"Well, to fulfill that requirement, I need to be able to move; but I find myself incapable of performing any such activity if you won't release me."

Harry grinned foolishly at her. "I won't ever let you free."

"Well, in that case-"she said, smiling still more widely and brightly, "_accio."_

She pointed her wand at where Harry had flung away his, and they soared towards them from where they lay, and landed in her free hand. She handed them to him.

"You can be my assistant, that is, if you're any good at healing."

"You know, I swear you've grown cheekier than you ever were."

"You bet I have, _and_ I won't stop yet."

."Fine by me, as long as I'm not the victim."

"Who said you couldn't be? I make no promises."

"Oy you two lovebirds. A hypocrite badly needs your help right now. There's all your entire lives left for going all mushy and dewy eyed over each other." Both of them turned to see Hermione smiling at them, a mixture of amusement and affection on her face. Ginny stuck her tongue out at her.

"I swear Harry," Hermione said with an amused grin, not paying any attention to Ron's whimpering; "Not only has she grown more cheeky, but more childish as well. One would think that after all that we have been through, you'd expect her to show some increased maturity."

"Yeah, I can see that," said Harry, looking at Ginny. He turned to Hermione. "But that's just my girl. She's gotta be different._And_you've got to admit, she does look adorable when she does that."

"Oh grow up, both of you." Hermione chided mock exasperatedly, rolling her eyes.

"Make us if you can." Ginny said, and then stuck her tongue out again.

"You two are impossible."

"Each one to his own," responded Ginny, shrugging her shoulders. "Anyway, want to help us with _that?"_ She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder to where Ron lay moaning on the chair into which Hermione had helped him.

A distasteful expression came over Hermione's face. "No thanks. I don't think I can stand him right now." Evidently, Ron heard this, because he produced a visibly large grunt of pain. "Anyway, I need to go see McGonagall. Can you tell me where she is Harry?"

"Why wouldn't she be in her office?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Because, Mr. lovesick puppy of Ginny," she paused to observe the effect of the nickname. Ginny grinned madly at her, but Harry scowled "I am_not_a lovesick puppy."

"Yes, you are, Harry." Ginny said slyly. "We all, especially I know that you can't live without me, if your snogs are anything to go by." She finished, grinning like a maniac.

"That's a pretty mean way to make fun of my position. It's not my fault your hair smells so seductive. I have a good mind to use the Harry Potter name tag for the first time in my life & ask Kingsley to get that shampoo banned."

"Suit yourself." Ginny said, and then continued in a teasing tone. "I won't be the one missing the smell, you know." She finished smugly.

Harry's shoulders slumped, recognizing defeat. However, he wasn't ready to admit that yet, though what Ginny had predicted was more than true.

"We'll see." He retorted.

"What, defeated already?" she chuckled.

"Who said I'm defeated?" he countered defensively.

"Well, for one thing, the fight in your eyes went out. Two, your shoulders dropped. Three, you let out a defeated sigh. If all these don't prove to you that I've won our little argument, then I'm a hippogriff."

"You know, you really do know me better than I know myself; and even though I can't help but like that truth, it scares the hell out of me sometimes." He said, smiling fondly at her.

She too smiled back, still somewhat unable to believe that it was all over. Somewhere deep down, she didn't want him to release her at all; afraid that if she let go, she might not be able to get him back again. Merlin only knew her condition when she'd seen him lying limp & apparently dead in Hagrid's massive arms, every drop of her blood screaming in torment as she'd yelled out his name; the grown up waif who'd stolen her heart on a platform nearly seven years ago. She once again thanked Dumbledore for bringing him through safely through all of it, and unable to restrain herself, suddenly gripped him tight around his neck.

"If you ever scare me like that again," she whispered, yanking his head close to hers so that her voice was a murmur on his lips, and her fierce gaze locking onto his own, boring into him mercilessly, right down into his heart; "I'll… I'll… I-"

"I know." He breathed back huskily and heavily into her. "I know Gin, I seriously do. You'll-." He paused, and shock covered Ginny's face as she opened her eyes at his pause & saw him grinning smugly at her as he slowly pulled away just far enough.

"- stutter at me." Harry finished.

Ginny's eyes narrowed into slits, as Harry pulled away smiling maddeningly. Oh, what she wouldn't give to wipe that smugness off his face, and yet her heart's joy knew no bounds for him as for the first time in a long time she saw him smiling and laughing freely and carelessly, just like he had when they had dated. That time seemed so long back, as if snippets of another life had been snatched and flung into their own lives, the lives which they would have now, the life she would have now with her family and especially with Harry, without worrying about security or death eaters or dementors; the life he'd mentioned while splitting up with her and a desire for which had always gleamed desperately in his eyes, bounding out a hundred times more forcefully at the funeral as she replayed those words in her mind.

"_I can't- we can't- I've got things to do alone now."_

Well, he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. She'd be there for him, whenever he needed her, for joy or for comfort, to love and to be loved in return. She didn't give a damn in the slightest as to what Ron might think of their relationship or whatever his objections might be, or indeed what the objections of all her brothers might be. If her mother couldn't find a reason to complain, but even go so far as to approve, nobody else had any right to think otherwise, especially when an intimidating Molly Weasley was behind her & Harry.

"Stop laughing. We'll both have enough time for that later. But for now, let's get that," she jerked her head towards the other Weasley in room, "over with & done for good." Ginny said, as she grabbed him by the arm and moved towards Ron, lying slumped on the seat where he had been moaning piteously all along.

* * *

_A/N _: Okay, sorry 4 d long delay.

Now. i really need genuine links as to what happened 2 _each of the charecters;_ coz without those i can't move forward.

Expect d next update at around start of April, as i got xams comin up.


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